


Te Trouver

by 1_Star



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, M/M, Plot Twists, Secrets, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, chensung - Freeform, dumbhaechan, geniusjenolee, geniusmarklee, i'mnotgoodattags, luren, markhyuck, mentions of nct members, mysteriousnajaemin, nct - Freeform, nomin, pastfriendhsip, very slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:20:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 78,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28588692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1_Star/pseuds/1_Star
Summary: ~Te Trouver~another word for 'Finding You'But what if the one you've been looking for your entire existence is not the one you expect to be?Jaemin's been finding a reason to live.Jeno's been finding the person he thinks he needs to love.Hachan's been finding the one.Mark found the wrong person.~It was the start of their college years when Jaemin and Haechan, an inseparable duo the moment they met at the academy, crossed paths with the known prodigies in their generation, Lee Jeno and Lee Mark. But what happens when there is actually so much more than the Jaemin who barely passes on his exams and the Haechan who doesn't pass at all? What happens when there is actually so much more than Jaemin and Haechan's new friendship? What happens when their secrets are exposed? What happens when the person Lee Jeno was looking for was just actually right in front of him? What happens when Lee Mark fell into the trap of having to love someone he shouldn't?What could go wrong in this enormous, yet small, world?
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 5
Kudos: 28





	1. Another World

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first NCT fanfiction.
> 
> Please be good to me. ♥
> 
> Just to be clear, the whole story is pure fiction and clearly, I don't own any of the characters.  
> I did get some ideas from 'Classroom of the Elite' and 'Gakuen Alice' but the whole plot is different ad that's where my own hard work starts.
> 
> Please don't reupload my story. I really worked hard for this and I spent an entire two weeks just to straighten out the plot. Please respect this.
> 
> I might also upload this in Asianfanfics.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What a terrible thing to do,  
> missing someone who hasn't thought about you."
> 
> -Unknown

_\6,662\_

_“Mommy, I’m scared”_

_A little voice could be heard echoing particularly nowhere. Everything is pitch black, no single signs of living could be seen in the dark picture just like what you could see when your eyes closed. All that was there was a cry, a cry coming from a young boy. It isn’t really confirmed if the owner of the sobs is indeed a young boy but judging from the chiming yet brittle sound, it must be coming from a toddler or a boy on his early childhood._

_“Mommy, wake up! Wake up!”_

_The cry became louder and more bawling could be heard. The voice really sounded pitiful and broken. It was clear that the child was running out of breath but still continued to snivel, trying his very best to call out to his ‘mommy’._

_“Mommy please wake up! I’m scared, mommy!”_

_Right after those words echoed in the entire black picture, a loud snap rung across the entire darkness._

⁑

Just an hour before a wavelength of orange and red hues could appear and cover the sky, a young lad with a flaxen hair mixed with a shade of gold immediately sat up from his bed, panting very hard. Fairish size of sweat were already slipping down from his forehead down to his jawline and even when the temperature was not really warm, in fact Autumn season is coming, he could feel the back of his shirt sticking into his skin due to its wetness caused by his sweat.

‘That dream again,’ he thought, unconsciously bringing his left palm up into the fabric of his shirt right directly to the part where he could feel his heart beating so fast like it’s going to burst out right outside his chest any seconds now. He tightly gripped the cloth, bringing some part of his skin in the process, trying his best to ease the beating of his heart.

_Otherwise it will ache again._

The blonde lad remained in that not-so-comfortable position for a few more minutes, giving his heart some space and time until it beats normally again. Finally sensing the muscle regaining a comfortable pace, he turned his gaze towards the black rectangle digital clock that was neatly seated on the top of the wooden roll desk placed just beside the door of his room.

Well, not for too long.

‘4:31 AM’

He sighed deeply as he realized how early it was for him to wake up. Since today is a very big day for him, he told himself before sleep that he must have enough plenty of rest but believing that he wouldn’t be able to sleep again due to the dream he had ‘for like a thousand times already’ he slowly sat up from his bed and stretched both of his arm upwardly, producing a small ‘click’ sound on the process from his bones and made a one big inhale-exhale all together.

He then walked towards the desk and grabbed a brown, glassy vial before opening its lid and taking out one white small pill. He then popped the tablet into his mouth and grabbed the glass of water which he prepared before he slept, in case something like this would happen which it did.

He’s aware of the fact that it’s too early for him to take his meds but he wouldn’t want to risk getting in pain since today will be the day he’ll be going to the academy.

‘This is going to be a long day.’

⁑

The Afrókrema Academy is not really the same as a normal university where a normal college student would go into. The generation their currently living right now is different from the previous generations. Today, more things, more theories, more machines and more medicines were discovered which means more people had become smarter. However, not only those positive things exist but also the negative ones. More disease, more virus, more villain – if that’s how people calls them, and more less intelligent children were born. So the government made a decision to build an academy where exceptionally intelligent students are bonded together, therefore Afrókrema Academy was made.

The arrangements of the academy are the same as of high school however, the age of the students are the same as the age of normal college students. No, it’s not a place where you could choose your own course, instead, it is a school where you could practice everything but at the same time, you can choose two specialties where you can further enhance your skill on their scheduled time. By the end of your five years in the academy, the school will be the one to decide where you belong. For short, it is a college school but with a different style.

The student are divided into three classes. The Elite Class, the A – Regular Class and the B – Regular Class. The drill is actually simple and not that hard to understand. If you got an average of 90% or above in your entrance exams, then you immediately belong to the Elite Class. If you scored an average of 70% to 89%, then you belong to the A Class. If you scored an average of 50% to 69%, then you automatically belongs to the B class. Lastly, if you scored an average of 49% and below, then you’re not accepted in the academy. Every end of the school year, if you’re average percentage surpassed the percentage requirements of the class you’re in. then you’ll be promoted to the next class by the start of the new school year. Then if you’re average percentage remains the same with the needed percentage in your class, then you’ll remain in that class. However, if you got an average of 49% below, no matter what year you are, may you be in your 5th year, you’ll be automatically dropped. That’s how simple it is.

What makes the academy unique is that it’s not the same as other schools where one teaches a lesson that equals to the lesson a student should be taught. It goes beyond the normal trend just like how freshmen elites are already taught with the most complex questions about Calculus or asked to memorize the biggest to the smallest parts of a brain cell. It’s like the elites are considered as extraordinarily smart while the class A are considered as what a normal valedictorians are capable of and for the class C, well they’re considered as ‘just normal students’.

~

It was already nearing nine in the morning when the blonde lad found himself walking into the entrance hall of Afrókrema Academy. He was currently wearing a white collared shirt plated with black vertical stripes with black buttons neatly arranged at the center starting from the top down to the bottom of the cloth, leaving the first button open and a not-so fitted light blue denim pants paired with black sneakers. Both of his hands were busy holding his stuffs, on his right hand was where he was tightly holding the handle of his suitcase while on his left hand was where he was holding a long white folder where all the important papers for his enrollment in the academy was clipped safely. Slinged on both of his shoulders was a big blue backpack seated at the front of chest down to his belly. People who went pass by him gave him weird looks as to why he positioned his backpack that way but he just shrugged it off, not caring one bit about what others think.

A few more seconds of walking and he arrived at his desired destination.

‘Resettlement Window’

It was a single room placed at the center of the most corner part of the hall which was walled with transparent glass where he found a middle age woman sitting inside the room, busy scribbling down important notes into the papers that was in front of her. He gently tapped at the glass, inconspicuously asking for attention from the lady inside.  
The lady then, upon hearing the soft sound, glanced up from her notes and noticed the presence of the young lad. She then let out a small smile and opened a part of the glass window that would allow her to communicate with him. Without giving him any chance to speak first, she immediately lifter her right arm in the air and opened her palm right away.

The young man, understanding her intentions, immediately handed her the white folder he was holding.

The lady then accepted it, not letting go of the smile she’s been forming on her mouth. She then placed the white container on her table and opened it, scanning the papers inside.

“Hmm, Na Jaemin,” she started while tapping the table with a pen. “You’re that examiner who scored fifty one percent flat on all of the subjects during the entrance exam, interesting.”

The blonde lad, who goes by the name Jaemin, just stood there awkwardly, waiting for the lady to ask him anything or give him more information about his enrollment in the school.

“So I guess you already know that you belong to the regular class since you did not reach the required percentage to be able to join the elite class.” The lady said in which she just earned a short nod from the lad. “You’re aware of which regular class you belong right?”

Jaemin sighed, of course he knew, that was his goal after all, to be a part of the B – Regular Class.

One of the pros in studying in the said academy is that no matter which class you belong, a good future is already guaranteed once you graduate in the said school. Elite students more likely will have their own companies and business firms the moment they’ll complete the five years in the academy while students from class A will be guaranteed to earn high positions on their jobs while students from class B will be guaranteed to be ‘just-hired’ which Jaemin wanted. This is the main reason why Jaemin chose to study in Afrókrema. He’s not aiming to be an owner of any kinds of business in the future nor does he want to be a CEO or a manager in his job position, all he want is a guaranteed job. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Yes, the B – Regular Class,” Jaemin replied with a stoic expression plastered all over his face. It’s not that he was being unfriendly – well he is unfriendly, he’s just tired due to lack of sleep and from his two-hour travel just to reach the academy. Plus, his introvert trait does not help at all. Being exposed to the outside world drains his energy and basing from the fact that he did not get enough sleep voids all the spirit he has.

The lady then looked up at him and gave him a nod with a sweet smile. “Alright then, just wait for a second and I’ll get you the keys to your room.”

That’s right, Jaemin will also be living in the academy’s dormitory in his whole years in the academy. Leaving the school ground without permission is not allowed and doing that will cause you a severe punishment. It wasn’t really known why but according to his searches, it’s because students in Afrókrema are all considered special and letting them out of the academy will results in a bigger chance of getting kidnapped or getting in danger. He’s not really that sure if that’s the reason behind the rule but at the same time, he couldn’t care less. It’s not like he have a home to return to outside the academy.

A minute has passed before the lady appeared again, this time, holding a silver harloc key on her hands. “Here’s your key, I think you already know that the Elite Class and C- Class dormitories are mixed so you will have no problem finding your way to the dormitory.” The woman explained.

Jaemin, again, could only nod in response. Yes he knew that he’d be living in the same dormitory as the Elites and that’s because of the unbalanced population among the three classes. According to the pamphlet he received weeks before coming to the academy, class A is leading the population of the academy in fact, 60% of the population in the academy belong to class A earning them their own dormitory. The remaining 40% are then shared with elites and class B in which 25% belongs to class B while the remaining 15% belongs to the elites. Also, one of the reasons the academy officials decided to mix their elites and students from class B is that they’re hoping the elites would spend time to teach the other class some lessons they couldn’t understand.

‘As if that would ever happen,’ Jaemin thought.

After accepting the key, Jaemin quickly bowed his head in front of the lady and muttered a small “thank you” before placing the key on the pocket of his shirt and turned his heel around, grabbing the handle of his suitcase.

~

If it was any other day, he’d gladly walk his way towards the dormitory but since both of his shoulders are starting to feel pain because of the heavy backpack he was carrying and his legs are going to give up any time soon due to the long hours of walking, plus the fact that he had to stand for almost an hour in the bus travelling to the academy because he had to give up his seat for a pregnant woman, he found himself standing in the shuttle stop of the academy. Since the academy is very enormous, the academy officials were kind enough to provide a shuttle for the students going back and forth to the dormitories and to their classes or any establishments within the school grounds.

There weren’t any seats provided in the waiting spot so he had to stand again for a couple of minutes before the shuttle could arrive. He sighed heavily and massage his temples due to the stress he’s starting to feel. He looked at his surroundings and realize that he’s not the only one who’s displaying a look of distress. There were actually four of them whose waiting for the shuttle to arrive and he’s silently thankful that he came on the last day of the ‘vacation’ because he thinks it’s a good idea to avoid many people on his first day in the academy.

His thoughts came into a halt when he heard a loud honk coming from behind him. He then turned around and a small smile slowly crept up into his face as he looked at the mine white bus coming towards where he was currently standing.

Right after the shuttle stopped in front of them, he waited for the three other students to climb in first before taking a foot into the metal plated floor of the bus. Stopping midway after he completely manage to bring his suitcase up into the bus, he looked for an empty seat and gladly, the seats were almost deserted so he decided to walk towards the middle right seat. At the back of the seat he had chosen was a guy who had pitch black hair, leaning his head on the window while closing his eyes and an earplug inserted on his left ear. It’s not really typical of Jaemin to observe other people since he always manage to unconsciously get lost in his own world with his thoughts but he’s suddenly feeling indifferent when he looked at the sleeping male. He doesn’t know why but he suddenly felt a light pang on his chest.

Shaking off the feeling, he immediately sat down and brought his suitcase closer to his knees.

‘I just forgot to drink my medicine,’ he reasoned out on his mind which was true since the last time he drank his medicine was when he woke up from the ‘dream’ he had just a few hours ago.

~

The ride to the dormitory wasn’t really that far. It just had been less than fifteen minutes since he rode the shuttle and now he’s already staring at the entrance door to his room. It’s not that he’s nervous but he’s not yet ready to face another person. People might say that introverts aren’t unsociable but he’s different. Sometime, he thinks of himself as the ‘most-introvert-introvert’ for being socially awkward, in fact, he hates crowds and attention.

He kept staring at the golden plated square that was attached at the center of the door which has ‘423’ printed on it. He looked at the key the lady gave to him for the nth time just to make sure the numbers are the same and that he won’t be trying to open a door to a different room.

Sighing, he forced his mind to just get over it and open the door and that he’s not in the wrong place. Trying to unlock the door silently, he realized that the door isn’t even locked at all so he pushed the door slowly, trying to avoid the creaking sound every door produces. Popping his head inside the room, the first thing he notice was how clean the room is. The whole walls were painted with nevada sky color and the floor was entirely covered with a plain black carpet. There were two medium size beds on the each side of the room, one was located near the window and the other one was located near the door.

What caught his attention the most was the figure lying down on the nearest bed as to where he was currently standing. The lad’s hair was red which Jaemin find quite amusing and odd. He was currently lying on his back, eyes staring wide at the ceiling as if a movie scene was projected on it.

Suddenly, a small wave of confidence came into Jaemin’s body which resulted him in bringing his entire self into the room, followed by his suitcase and closed the door in a slow manner, again to avoid the creaking sound. He then looked at the lying boy again and realizing that the lad didn’t budge at all, he then cleared his throat to at least make the other boy look up at him.

  
“I know you’re there,” the boy said, not looking away at the ceiling he was staring at.

Hearing the lad’s voice gave a slight chill to Jaemin’s skin. ‘Familiar,’ he thinks.

For a few seconds, Jaemin just stood there right beside the door awkwardly, not knowing what to do since he can’t just bring himself to move across the room, thinking that it might invade the other guy’s privacy. He doesn’t exactly know why he’s feeling that way since he’s completely aware that this will also be his room from now on but he just had this feeling to wait for an approval by his roommate.

Jaemin was startled when the guy suddenly sat up on his bed and looked at him with the most welcoming eyes he had ever seen. “Hello, I’m Lee Haechan and I’ll be your roommate.” He said before bringing his arm into the air, initiating a handshake.

Jaemin suddenly felt a wave of comfort after seeing the smile on Haechan’s face and not just that but he found Haechan’s voice too familiar for his own liking yet he couldn’t remember where he heard it before but shrugging the feeling off, Jaemin returned the smile and accepted the gesture. “I’m Na Jaemin and it’s nice meeting you.”

Haechan suddenly chuckled after hearing the words that came out from Jaemin’s mouth which made Jaemin slightly confused, ‘did I said something wrong?’ Jaemin asked to himself, trying to recall the words that left his mouth to make sure he did not say anything to offend the red hair.

“Nah, it’s actually not that nice to meet me.” The other lad said as he let go of Jaemin’s hand and lied down once again and stared at the ceiling. Jaemin could only look at him with an obvious confusion written on his entire demeanor, waiting for Haechan to speak up and explain what he actually meant by that.

However, earning a silence from Haechan, he decided not to dig into the topic further since the red hair clearly doesn’t want to talk about it anytime soon.so he trudged himself, dragging the suitcase along, towards the empty bed space which was near the window and made himself comfortable in his new abode.

~

A few hours had passed and Jaemin finally woke up from his ‘short slumber’ as that’s how he wants to call it. He could hear his stomach grumbling and when he looked up on the wall clock placed at the center of the walls of their room, he could feel his heart drop on the pit of his stomach.

“3:08 PM”

‘Fuck,’ he cursed, realizing that he still haven’t eaten ever since he woke up at dawn and that he’s way past his medicine schedule. He’s really strict about his meds since he doesn’t want to go back to the hospital. _Again._

He brought his palm into his chest and closed his eyes, trying to see if he’s feeling any signs of pain at the moment. Exhaling in relief, he confirmed that nothing is wrong ‘yet’ and he should probably go have his late lunch now if he doesn’t want anything bad to happen to him.

Just then, a door suddenly opened and he saw Haechan coming out from the bathroom, his top part fully naked while his bottom part was fully covered with a white towel wrapped around him.

“Oh, sorry I thought you are still asleep, I hope you don’t mind.”

Jaemin, fully aware of what Haechan is trying to say, shook his head and offered the lad a small smile. “Not at all,” now that he could clearly see Haechan’s features, he realized that the other guy has a slight tanned tone – a honey skin tone. Not that he’s checking him out, it’s just plainly obvious to be ignored.

Before Haechan could see him and might assume that he’s staring at him, he immediately turned his head to the other side and starts to get up from the bed.

“I’m sorry, I’m still quiet unfamiliar in the whole grounds, can you tell me where the school cafeteria is?” Jaemin asked. Now that he thought about it, he never read anything about the cafeteria from the pamphlet.

Haechan then chuckled as he was trying to wear the brown shirt he just gotten from his closet. After successfully making the hole let pass of his head, he then turned to Jaemin.

“The academy’s cafeteria won’t open until tomorrow so it’s either you go to the grocery store to buy some ingredients for you to cook your own food or go to the classy restaurants the academy has to offer.”

Jaemin nodded in understandment. Thinking deeply for a few seconds, he does know how to cook since he’s been cooking for himself his entire life but he’s just too tired to do it at the moment.

“Since I’m also about to eat, why don’t you just come with me? That way I’ll be able to give you a small tour on the academy grounds.” Haechan proposed which Jaemin thinks is a very good idea. “Well that’s if it’s alright with you to be seen in public hanging out with me.” Heachan continued, trying to hint Jaemin that he has an issue with the whole university.

In response, Jaemin gave the latter a big, sincere smile. He doesn’t know why but he feels comfortable around the tan guy as if he’s trustworthy, as if something is telling him that they’re somehow alike but he couldn’t pin point as to which part. “It would be an honor to be accompanied with the infamous Haechan.”

Both of the laughed at Jaemin’s remark and finally, Haechan found a friend. It has already been three weeks since he started living in the academy and no one even dared to talk to him. He admit that he felt lonely during those times, not like he’s not used to this, but still he can’t help but feel left out. He know that it’s still early to say Jaemin is different but just like Jaemin, he could actually feel that there’s something similar about both of them.

Before they could completely go out of the room, he stopped Jaemin from locking the door and reminded him about their star card. “Don’t forget to bring your card with you.”

The star card. It is a card that could be used forever transaction that will take place in the academy grounds. Since they weren’t allowed to go out of the academy, the school ground provided them everything they would want or need. Book store, library, arcade, shopping mall, grocery store, spa, and many more. It’s actually quiet expensive if you think about it but for some reasons, the academy went to that extent just to make sure all the students won’t try to step outside the academy. This is where the star card get useful. For every transaction inside the grounds, the students, including the workers, professors, anyone inside the grounds, will be using stars as their money.

Every start of the school year, one’s star card will be credited depending on your class. For the students in the Elite class, they’ll be credited with fifty thousand stars, for the student in the A class, they’ll be credited with thirty thousand stars and lastly for the B class, they’ll be credited with ten thousand stars. Quite harsh isn’t it? But there will always be a way to earn stars. For example is winning a quiz battle or winning a singing contest. One can also work for a part time job in any of the establishment but that’s up to them if they can manage their time in the right way.

Jaemin then checked the back pocket of his pants and took out his black leather wallet to see if the card is there. He’s indeed pretty sure that it is there since he never took it out, in fact, it wasn’t even used yet, however, just like his mini war with the door number a few hours ago, he felt the need to check again. Seeing the bronze card placed neatly in one of the card holders, he immediately placed his wallet back into the pocket before letting out an “all set” for Haechan to hear.

~

Since the Afrókrema Central is located at the furthest part of the academy grounds, Haechan and Jaemin decided to take the shuttle. Jaemin did insisted that they should just walk towards the central since it’s the ‘best exercise’ however Haechan reasoned out that it would take them an hour before they could arrive at their destined place and the fact that Haechan mentioned that both of them haven’t eaten anything yet practically shut him up.

After a few minutes, a shuttle, which looks exactly the same as the shuttle Jaemin rode to the dormitory, stopped in front of them. Both of the young lads hurriedly walked inside the bus, not wanting to make the driver wait any longer.

“Look whose here,” a not so deep, manly voice echoed in the entire shuttle the moment both Haechan and Jaemin managed to climb themselves up in the bus causing both of them to stop on their tracks. Jaemin doesn’t really care about what he just heard so he proceeded to scan the area, trying to find a space where he and Haechan could sit together.

Just as his eyes were about to land at the empty seat that was located at the furthest part of the bus, he caught a pair of eyes staring at him. Suddenly, for the second time today in the academy, he felt a light pang on his heart which made him immediately brought his one hand into his chest and remove his eyes from the latter.  
‘It’s the same guy as before,’ he thought, slowly massaging the part where he could feel his heartbeat. He doesn’t want to look so weird so he tried his best to act normal as if he’s just trying to scratch an itch on his chest skin.

“Jaem, there’s an empty seat over there,” Heachan said, turning his head towards Jeamin while pointing his index finger on the seat at the back. Jaemin, in return, smiled at him and nodded.

Both of them were about to go trudge towards the back but was stopped with the same guy who gave them a nasty greeting the moment they stepped inside the shuttle. “Ignoring me now huh?”

Haechan then gave the unknown guy his most deadly glare, indirectly telling him to ‘fuck off’ which seemed to intimidate the guy since he suddenly widened his eyes for a short millisecond before clearing his throat. “Hmm, so what do we have here, a cutie,” he said, now focusing his eyes on Jaemin.

Jaemin on the other hand, kept a blank face, staring straightly at the furthest wall of the bus, not giving the annoying guy any attention. He then suddenly felt Haechan grabbing his wrist to drag him in their target seat however the guy blocked Jaemin’s path in a very abrupt manner which made Haechan’s grip on his wrist get cut.

“Why are you together with Dumbchan?” The guy asked. “You should really stay away from him, his dumbness might infect you.” The students inside the bus suddenly laughed altogether after hearing what the guy just said. “You should be spending your time with me, my name is Hyunsuk by the way but you can call me Daniel.” The guy, who now they recognize as Daniel, lifted his hand in the air, initiating a handshake.

Jaemin, on the other hand, only stared at the hand in front of him, still not looking at Daniel. After a few seconds, Daniel then emitted a loud scoff, not quiet believing that someone just turned him down.

“You’ll regret this,” the guy said rudely with a mix of threat in his voice but unluckily for him, Jaemin is not even intimidated in the slightest.

A girl with auburn hair who was wearing a very short miniskirt that couldn’t almost cover her undergarments suddenly got up from her seat, directly looking at Jaemin with annoyance plastered in her face. “Yah! Instead of ignoring us, you should be thankful that we’re warning you about Haechan! He probably slept with someone in the officials that made him get in despite having an average of 7% in the entrance exam!”

Now this got Jaemin’s attention. He suddenly looked at the girl who made the statement with a hint of confusion on his face. The girl, seeing Jaemin’s reaction, scoffed and rolled her eyes. “He did not tell you? See, you should really avoid him or he might get in your pants too!”

Jaemin ignored the last remark of the auburn girl and turned to look at Haechan who was looking down on the shuttle’s floor. He was expecting Haechan to at least look guilty or sad but what Jaemin saw in Haechan’s eyes is not what he’s expecting.

_Boredom._

  
Yes, boredom. He’s looking at the floor the same way he was staring their room’s ceiling the first time he met him. His eyes were dull, uninterested and he could see a tiny bit of annoyance too. Due to this, he let out a small sigh of relief and looked straight at the back of the shuttle.

“I really don’t care now if you’ll please excuse me, I want to take a seat.” Jaemin said boredly before walking pass Daniel, grabbing Haechan’s wrist this time.

Haechan was shock, yes. At first, he thought he’ll be going to square one again. No friends, no acquaintance, worse, having a ‘no-relationship’ with his roommate and he doesn’t want that since their room will be his only comfort zone and having a dark tension around it is the last thing he wants to deal with for the entire five years but Jaemin’s response made him realize that the blonde lad is different, too different.

Before Jaemin could bring both of them in the empty seats, a guy, who was sitting beside the familiar guy who stared at him a few minutes ago, speak up.

“Daniel, Tzuyu, leave the two dumbs alone, they’re not worth your time.”

This time, Haechan stopped on his track and looked at the person who just made an indirect insult towards them. “You’re not also worth my time Mark.”

The guy whom Haechan just insulted have fair pale skin and an odd silver-ish hair. But then again, Haechan’s hair color is odder.

Before the guy named Mark could provoke Haechan further, Jaemin saw Mark’s seatmate placing a hand on his shoulder, telling him not to speak further which Mark complied.

Finally seated at the seats, which seemed like forever, Haechan and Jaemin let out a brief sigh all together which made them both look at each other after and let out a small laugh. “I’m really sorry about that,” Haechan started.

After hearing Haechan’s apology, Jaemin quickly shook his head. “Please, it’s not your fault at all and from my own perspective, they’re not really that smart as how they think they are.”

Haechan then chuckled, his gestures saying that he couldn’t agree more to what Jaemin just stated. After a few seconds of deafness, Haechan then let out a heavy sigh before opening his mouth to speak again. “I’m sorry for not telling you everything earlier, I just thought that you’d be like them and I apologize for that and now, I guess there’s really no point in hiding it from you since everyone in the entire academy already knew about it.” Jaemin continued to stare at Haechan, waiting for him to continue. “I failed the entrance exam.”

Jaemin is not shock but instead, he’s surprised and confused at the same time. ‘So that girl wasn’t lying? But if he failed the test then why is he here?’ Jaemin asked particularly to no one since he just kept it on his mind.

Haechan, noticing the silence of his new roommate, chuckled once again and combed the red spikes of his hair with his fingers which Jaemin find enticing. “It’s actually a very long story and I due to some, uhm, personal reasons, I managed to enroll myself in the academy.” There was a hint of hesitation on his voice and Jaemin could tell the lad is hiding something but he really couldn’t care less about the reasons Haechan was talking about. “A lot of students were actually angered by this actually so now everyone avoids me like plague and if I were you, don’t come near me in public if you don’t want them to avoid you too.”

“Why? So what if you managed to get in even without passing the exams?” Jaemin asked in confusion.

The question got Haechan sit up again and stared at Jaemin like he just asked the most ridiculous question in the entire world. “Jaemin, they’re not hating me because it’s unfair that I managed to get in even if I failed the exams, it’s because they think I am dumb and stupid and I’m pretty sure by now that you are aware that stupid people aren’t really welcomed in this place. The people from Class A especially are even treating students from Class B as trash, what more if a person did not manage to get an average of 50% in the exams?” Haechan explained with a serious tone.

Jaemin slowly nodded his head in understanding but then again, he doesn’t really care what people thinks and that’s what he likes about himself. Even though he belongs in class B, he’s not really intimidated with the students in Class A and the elites.

‘There are some things they can’t do that I can,’ he thought.

But unknown to him, Haechan is also thinking the exact phrase he is thinking.

The following words that came out from Jaemin’s mouth startled Haechan like he couldn’t believe what he just heard. “I don’t care what they say, just because they think you’re dumb doesn’t mean it’s not nice meeting you.”

‘Finally, a guy who doesn’t care about reputation.’ Haechan thinks. He then smiled again with full sincerity. “I think we’re going to get along very well.” He then opened his palms towards Jaemin, initiating a high five to which Jaemin immediately accepted.

“Okay, first of all, I think you need to know whose who, not that we care but for alarm purposes.” Haechan explained and Jaemin nodded in response, agreeing to Haechan’s statement. “Well, Daniel and Tzuyu belong to Class A, while Mark,” Haechan paused for a second before continuing. “Mark is an elite, also the one who’s sitting beside him, Lee Jeno,”

‘Lee Jeno’, Jaemin thought. That’s the name of the guy he saw sleeping on the bus earlier, the same guy whom he caught staring at him a few minutes ago. For the third time, he felt a twinge on his heart but this time, he decided to ignore it, thinking that it’s just because he still haven’t yet to take his medicine.  
“You know, out of all the people whose been bullying me in the academy, Mark really pisses me off the most.” Haechan concluded, displaying a medium amount of annoyance in his face which made Jaemin chuckled.

Jaemin also kind of realized that when Haechan did not bother to talk back to Daniel but was quick to insult Mark which was kind of funny in his own point of view. “Mind telling me why?”

“He’s known as the Math Prodigy in our generation,” Haechan started which made him earn a confused look from Jaemin. “He’s the Math Prodigy and he’s immensely proud and boastful about it yet he couldn’t even perfect his score in Math on the entrance exams.”

Jaemin nodded, recalling the questions of the same Math test Haechan was speaking about. “The Math test was indeed quiet hard,” he stated.

“He calls himself a prodigy, rubbing it on every student’s face in the academy so I expect him to at least answer five out of ten extreme questions in the test but no, he only answered three of them right.” Haechan continued to explain with an angry tone but his voice remained soft. Jaemin was still quiet confused about Haechan’s whole point so he started to wonder is someone else got a higher score than Mark.

“Did someone else answered the ten hardest question correctly or got a higher score than Mark?” Jaemin now remembers, the exam consisted five different subjects, Mathematics, Science, World History, Philosophy and Arts. Each subjects contains one hundred question each, comprising twenty beginners question, thirty easy questions, forty hard questions and ten extreme questions. The subjects might sound too broad but the questions covers the most common to the most specific topics like advance mathematics, thermodynamics, pathology, etc.

Jaemin’s question suddenly made Haechan quiet which made Jaemin think if he said something wrong. But before he could say anything, Haechan beat him to it. “No, no one scored higher than him,” Haechan chuckled. “I must be overreacting then.”

Jaemin could see the indifferent look on Haechan’s orbs but since it was his nature to not to care too much, he just then patted Haechan’s back, whispering a small “just let him be”, talking about letting Mark boast all he want. “The questions were very hard after all and they were made very uniquely so it’s not really surprising that Mark himself couldn’t answer them right.”

Haechan only remained silent so Jaemin assumed that their conversation end there.

_But if only he waited for a few more seconds before dozing off, he would be able to hear Haechan’s whisper._


	2. Bye My First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It is sad not to love,  
> but it is much sadder not to be able to love."
> 
> -Miguel de Unamuno

|8,815|

It was a few minutes later when Jaemin felt a light jab on his side, making him softly jolt up from his state.

“We’re here,” it was Haechan. Jaemin then looked at the windows and notice that they’re indeed in the central. Not that he had been there before but judging from the amount of people walking around the street and big establishments and facilities he could see from the transparent glass, he knew it was the Central.

Walking towards the exit of the shuttle, he realized that it was only him and Haechan left on the vehicle and the driver is patiently waiting for them to get off. Once both of them completely got out of the shuttle, Haechan did a mini toe touch stretching, bending his whole upper body in the process while his palms reaching for his toes. This got Jaemin chuckle, they only rode the shuttle for 20 minutes or less yet Haechan was acting like they sat there for a day.

“Ahh, finally, I was getting nauseous knowing Mark was on the same room as me,” Haechan’s words made Jaemin roll his eyes, as if Haechan was overeacting but then he let out a small chuckle and patted Haechan’s shoulders. Haechan then suddenly gripped Jaemin’s wrist and eyed the blonde with so much energy. “Are you ready for our tour Mr. Na?”

Jaemin laughed at Haechan’s sudden burst of positivity and spark before nodding his head. “After you Mr. Lee,” both of them then laughed before started walking towards the street.

The central was indeed very massive, not just massive but also lavish. All the stores, shops and restaurants both Haechan and Jaemin passed by screams extravagance which got Jaemin a little uncomfortable. It’s not that he’s ignorant about these type of fanciness but he’s just not used to it. He wasn’t rich his entire life, not that he got a problem with that, but as much as possible, he just wants to avoid costly places thinking that their worth doesn’t match their qualities almost all of the time. Plus, the ten thousand stars budget for the entire year is not helping at all.

Haechan, as if he could read Jaemin’s mind, suddenly giggled. “Don’t worry, I know a cheap place around here,” Jaemin then nodded, this time, a relief was caked on his entire expression.

After a few more turns, both of them arrived in front of a not-so-big café that was clearly not cheap for Jaemin’s liking. It was just a one-storey building and the whole exterior of the café was painted with white but what got Jaemin think that the café is not cheap was due to the wall frame just below the roof that was covered with shiny and dazzling diamonds, and he knew for sure that those were real. Jaemin then looked at Haechan confusingly and it seems like Haechan was already expecting that expression from the latter.

“Well it’s not really cheap but they sell the best ramen in town and surprisingly, they’re very affordable and you wouldn’t regret it.” Haechan said assuringly however, Jaemin doesn’t seem convinced as his eyes were enfolded with hesitation. “Come on, trust me! I’m a B class like you and I also don’t want to go broke just before we reached the middle of the school year.”

‘True,’ Jaemin thought. He doesn’t know Haechan very well yet but after everything the tan guy displayed today, he knows for sure that he isn’t a careless guy. He then heaved out a sigh before muttering a small “guess I don’t have a choice” which made Haechan smile widely in return.

Because Jaemin doesn’t want gain any attention, he made Haechan go in first since he thinks the latter has a more “fuck off” aura around him. Once Jaemin completely made himself inside the café, the sight that greeted him was surely not the sight he expected. The exterior was expensive but the interior, god, he doesn’t even know how to explain it. The entire walls of the inside was covered with diamonds and almost everything he could see was made out of glass. The chairs, the tables, the desks, the chandeliers, and even the floor. ‘Who the hell would spend much large amount of money just for a small café?’

“Dumbchan!” His thoughts were pulled down when he heard someone calling Haechan. _More like insulting Haechan._ Both of them turned their heads towards the owner of the voice and much to their surprise, everyone on the café was looking at them, looking at Haechan exactly and because of that, both of them couldn’t tell which human just voiced out an insult.

Jaemin exactly knew that the attention their getting is most directed to his friend but because he’s just right beside the latter, he could still feel a sort of uneasiness inside him. He does really hate attention.

“Dumbchan!” Someone called again and this time it came from a different voice and both Haechan and Jaemin saw where it came from. The guy has a smirk plastered on his face and Haechan would very much love to punch that smirk away but just like any other day, just like any other person _except for Mark,_ he just shrugged it off and made his way towards the only table left.

Thankfully, it was a table for two but still, Haechan did not expect the café to get packed since it was almost always empty every time he comes here but maybe because this was their last day of vacation, everyone thought it would be nice to eat out. Jaemin, on the other hand, quietly follow Haechan behind, bowing his head in the process to avoid making any eye contact. Jaemin isn’t usually like this but because of the situation his friend is facing, he somehow feels affected but not in a bad way.

“Oh great,” Jaemin heard Haechan huffing out with a hint of sarcasm in his voice so he decided to look up and see what’s going on.

There, just right beside the table Haechan and him were heading to, was a quite large table with a large group of people sitting on it. But what got most of his attention was the same guy Haechan hates.

Mark.

And Jeno.

But this time, both guys were not alone. They were with some other people which Jaemin assumed to be their friends. Even though their presence were there, that didn’t stop Haechan from sitting on the chair just right beside them, only with a small path distancing their table from the others. Jaemin could clearly see that Haechan was quiet annoyed to be in the same room with Mark again but he’s pretty good at faking a passive look on his face which made Jaemin mentally chuckle. Yes he’s no psychologist nor a psychiatrist but he just knows it.

Right after they sat down on their targeted chairs, a tall, pale girl who was wearing a black apron around her waist, immediately went to their side and gave each of them a back leaflet which Jaemin assumed to be the menu book.

The whole arrangement was kind of new to Jaemin since they were treated as if they were in a fancy restaurant. Last time he checked, they’re inside a café and from his normal experience, they’re supposed to be making their orders in the front desk but seeing Haechan not giving a damn about it, he decided to just go with the flow and assume that maybe this is how it works in Afrókrema. Again, it’s not that he’s being ignorant, everything is just too foreign for him.

Both of them opened the menu book the girl gave them and Jaemin’s eyes suddenly widened, clearly not expecting the sight.

_Avocado Salsa ………………………………………….._ _★_ _987.00_

_Classic Deviled Eggs………………………………….…_ _★_ _808.00_

_Fried Tortilla Chips…………………………………….._ _★_ _845.00_

Jaemin did not even bother reading the rest of the choices since he know the prices won’t be going down soon. He closed his eyes for a second and inhaled a large amount of air before exhaling them as he proceeded to the next page, this time ignoring all the other dishes and just looking straightly for the ramen Haechan told him about, silently praying that Haechan’s definition of cheap doesn’t equate to five hundred stars.

Finally, at the very last page of the leaflet-like book, was a list of ramen which thankfully, was his own definition of ‘cheap’.

_‘_ _★_ _50.00’_

Jaemin then let out a small sigh of relief but a laugh caught his attention, which belongs to no other than his honey-skinned friend. “You looked like you went into a short war in there.” Haechan said, eyeing Jaemin with a teasing manner.

Jaemin brought his right palm on his nape giving it a small massage, slightly embarrassed at the fact that he unconsciously displayed his real emotion in from of Haechan. ‘I’m getting too comfortable around him,’ he thought.

“Relax Jaem, like I said, trust me.”

Jaemin could only return a small, sincere smile at Haechan’s remark before going through the list of ramen the café could offer. After a few minutes, he finally made a decision to just go with hakodate ramen, pairing it with just a glass of water.

While waiting for their food to arrive, Haechan was silently playing with his phone while Jaemin was intently staring at the window on just right beside their table. Even though Jaemin’s eyes were on the outside, his whole attention was still focused inside in the café. He could still here some voices mentioning “dumbchan” from here and there and he knows it was no exemption to Haechan too.

Jaemin doesn’t know how many minutes had passed but finally, their food arrived and he couldn’t help but smile at the fresh aroma that hit his senses. It was a very pleasant smell, pleasant enough that could make his stomach quietly grumble.

‘Come on, I haven’t eaten the whole day,’ he mentally reasoned out.

Both young men couldn’t wait to dig into their food and stuff their stomach with the delicious ramen served in front of them so they immediately held the fork that was placed neatly beside their plates. But just before Haechan’s utensil touch the nutriment, his bowl of ramen was suddenly taken away in front him and a loud crash echoed in the entire café. It was so sudden that both Jaemin and Haechan didn’t saw it coming.

Haechan immediately looked up from the table and saw the culprit behind it all.

“Choi Yeonjun,” Haechan quietly, but bitterly hissed.

Jaemin was indeed surprised. He could only stare back and forth to the guy named Choi Yeonjun and to the shattered bowl and scattered ramen on the floor just beside his feet. Haechan did warned him that students from the academy are quiet handful but he did not expect it to be this handful.

The café was very quiet at the moment and Jaemin could see how everyone is staring at their side intently, even the people at the table beside them where Mark was seated looked shock like they did not expect that coming.

Yeonjun then voided a loud smirk, probably everyone in the entire room could hear it, before placing one of his palm on the top of Haechan’s hair. “That’s what you get for ignoring me earlier,” he said while continuously patting Haechan’s head.

Haechan, on the other hand, does not look like slightly amused at all nor does he looks like intimidated. Jaemin expected him to slap Yeonjun’s hands away but instead, Haechan just sat there silently and if Jaemin could read it correctly, Haechan might be repeating the phrase ‘not again’ quiet a lot on his mind now. 

“You should be thankful you know, I just prevented you from getting sick.” Yeonjun continued in a not so friendly manner. “I mean, who orders ramen every fucking single night?”

‘Every night? Damn Haechan could get sick if that’s true,’ Jaemin thought as he looked at Haechan in a worried expression.

“Stalking me now, huh?” Haechan replied in a bored manner.

Yeonjun scoffed after hearing the blonde male’s reply before throwing another insult, completely ignoring Haechan’s not-so-subtle-question. “Ah yes, of course you’ll order those cheap ramen every day, you’re poor after all. I mean everyone from B class are poor but you must be beyond necessitous given you had to use your body in order to get here. You know what we should call you? We should call you dumb.slut.beggar.chan.”

‘Okay, that’s way out of line,’ Jaemin thought. He was about to stand up from his seat to stop the Yeonjun guy from going further but Haechan beat him to it. The latter abruptly stood up from his seat and looked at Yeonjun, surprisingly with a smirk formed on his mouth.

Haechan only started at him, right through his eyes, before opening his mouth. “You are a wickedly fiendish cannibal and a villainous feces-collecting derelict whose birth certificate is an apology from the condom factory,” Haechan said and the whole café went quiet.

The whole place was suddenly taken aback from Haechan’s rebounce rendering everyone speechless. Some might think that he was getting out of his mind for saying something ‘off-topic’ but what they don’t know is that Haechan just threw a big insult towards Yeonjun.

_Well maybe not everyone._

Right across Haechan’s seat, Jaemin suddenly laughed out loud after hearing Haechan’s remark. Everyone at the café have their heads turned towards Jaemin but before anyone could utter a single word, the people on the table beside them, the one where Mark and his friends were seated, followed Jaemin’s laugh.

It’s actually kind of funny how everyone in the entire café excluding the group from Mark’s table and Jaemin have confusion written all over their face, not really understanding why they’re laughing, for short, they didn’t understand what Haechan just said.

After a few more seconds, the laughter died down and everyone was now intently listening to the drama that was going on at the moment.

Yeonjun was clearly puzzled with Haechan’s words, not really understanding what the red hair male just said and this was confirmed when he uttered a single “what?” to Haechan.

Haechan then rolled his eyes and whispered a small ‘I can’t believe this’ before looking at Yeojun once again. “Nothing, I just said that you’re a monstrously blabbering psychopath and a preposterous halitosis-infested mediocrity-afflicted neophyte with glacially slow cognitive faculties.”

Again, Jaemin laughed once again, this time louder while slapping a hand on his one leg, barely containing his laugh. Also, for the second time, the same group of people who laughed earlier with him laughed again, quietly amused at Haechan’s choice of words.

Yeonjun then looked at Jaemin, then to the other people who was laughing, before turning back to Haechan, “are you saying that I am a psychopath?” Yeonjun asked with a hint of anger in his tone.

Haechan could only gawk at the man in front of him, giving him a ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ look, not quiet believing the fact that this guy who called him dumb couldn’t even understand his ‘simple’ insult. He is well aware that the insult he just made was only for intellects but he still have high expectations towards ‘Class A’ students.

Sensing a sort of danger coming in their way, Jaemin immediately stood up and went in front of Yeonjun, making Haechan face his back. “Please don’t mind what he just said, he’s just really hungry,”

“Yes, leave the dumbs alone Yeonjun,” said a guy who has a very pale skin with a light brown hair who was sitting on the same table as Mark. Jaemin could see that the guy was still containing his laugh the way his eyes are still scrunching and his mouth still having that ‘lying D’ form.

“Mind your own business elite,” Haechan answered back almost immediately which surprised everyone in the café especially Jaemin and the group of people who were sitting beside them.

Before Haechan could say anything further, out of instincts, he got up from his seat and held Haechan’s wrist. “Let’s just go.”

“Yeah, you should listen to your friend dumbchan, we were all at peace here until you came, and don’t talk to Chenle that way, you’re being stupid than you already are.”

‘Fuck,’ Jaemin thought. Now Haechan definitely wouldn’t held back since those words came from no other than the guy he claimed to hate the most.

Haechan then scoffed loudly, enough for everyone to hear and what he did next was very unexpected. He suddenly removed his wrist from Jaemin’s hold and clapped his hands loudly for three exact times. Mark then raised his eyebrows at Haechan, not liking the latter’s sudden action.

“Wow, it’s really weird to be called dumb and stupid from a guy who calls himself the Math Prodigy but couldn’t even get a perfect score form the Math exam.” Haechan said as he rolled his eyes for the second time, this time, facing Mark.

Everyone else in the entire café have their jaws dropped upon hearing Haechan. No one talks to Lee Mark that way, no one. Especially coming from a guy who did not pass the entrance exams. Even the waiters present and the guy behind the counter looked at Haechan with disbelief.

“What did you just fucking say?” Mark hissed, also standing up from his seat as if he’s ready to tackle Haechan any minute. His friends, who were seated on the table with him, tried to hush him down by grabbing his shirt, pulling him down to seat again but Mark is too stubborn and angry to listen.

“Yah, how dare you speak to Mark that way!” a high pitch voice suddenly ringed in their ears, as if she’s trying to protect his dear boyfriend.

“You too Chaeyoung, you’re no better in fact, you’re worse than Mark,” Haechan answered back to the girl who just barked at him. This time, Jaemin is highly nervous. Normally, Haechan would ignore others but seeing him talking back to everyone who tries to insult him, is giving Jaemin a slight chill on his spine. He surely does hates attention after all.

Yeonjun, who was still a few inches away from them, suddenly grabbed Haechan’s collar part of his shirt and raised his fist, almost ready to throw a punch at Haechan’s face. But before he could do so, in a very fast speed, a hand suddenly grabbed Yeonjun’s wrist, stopping him from doing his intention.

“Stop.”

The voice was dark and cold at the same time, giving everyone a slight goose bumps on their skin. Jaemin, also, was startled from the sudden burst of movement, causing his eyes to slightly widen at the sight.

‘Jeno,’ he thought.

“Why’d you stop him Jeno? Dumbchan deserves to be punished.” Jaemin heard someone questioning Jeno’s stand and it was from the girl whom Haechan called Chaeyoung a while ago. After the complaint left Chaeyoung’s mouth, a lot of murmurs followed and Jaemin could obviously tell that the murmurs were about how Haechan should be punished by insulting the Class A and the elites especially Mark.

The sight was quiet intimidating but not too much to intimidate Haechan since he suddenly walked towards Jeno with a blank expression on his face. Not a hint of nervousness could be seen on his eyes.

Out of nowhere, Haechan suddenly pushed placed a finger on Jeno’s shoulder and pushed him slightly. Earning a gasp from everyone inside the café, including the other students who were with Mark and Jeno. The gasps were followed with a ‘how dare him’s and ‘he’s out of his mind’s buzzes.

“I said mind your own business and that includes you Mr. President,” Haechan said coldly, not really mindful of what consequences he would have to deal with later.

If one was watching a movie, it seems like the scene was paused. Everyone freezes on their position with a hint on dread on their faces. Even Jeno who was supposed to intimidate Haechan was halted on his actions.

_However, Jaemin saw it coming._

Jaemin doesn’t know why but this time, he saw it. He saw how Jeno turned his feet, aiming to give Haechan a full blow of roundhouse kick on his head so in a swift motion, Jaemin did the exact thing he know he should do.

Everyone’s eyes couldn’t almost believe the sight in front of them. There, in front of Jeno, was a motionless blonde guy who easily blocked Jeno’s attack using his thin forearm. Jeno on the other hand, was frozen on his state, leg still on the air in a kicking form.

No one has ever blocked Jeno’s kicks. No one. He doesn’t really want to harm Haechan, all he wanted was to scare him off by giving him a warning strike and he wouldn’t really hit the guy on the head but the very least he expected was for Haechan’s friend to easily block him.

“Leave us alone,” Jaemin said, looking at Jeno’s eyes with blank mixed with a dark expression and Jeno could feel the coldness radiating throughout the blonde’s entire aura.

After the short show that happened in the café, Haechan and Jaemin decided to call it a day and just go back to their dormitory with their stomach empty.

⁑

Jaemin and Haechan’s ride to their dormitory was very silent. Both of them did not bother to utter any single word but deep inside them, they really don’t mind the solitude at the moment and it’s exactly what both of them need after the short drama that took place in the café.

Since Haechan wasn’t able to eat his meal and obviously, Jaemin’s too was left unattended, right after they brought themselves outside of the café, Haechan immediately brought Jaemin to the grocery store and told the latter that he’ll just go cook food for them in the dormitory, claiming that it was his entire fault why they weren’t able to savor the ★50.00 they just spent respectively. Jaemin told him that it was alright and that they should just boil some ramen which he had in his suitcase but since Haechan insisted, he just sighed and gone along.

What scares Jaemin though was the fact that he’s beyond his meds schedule and he couldn’t take it with an empty stomach. He might look alright and passive physically but deep inside him, he’s starting to have a small panic about it. The last time he didn’t took his medicine on the right time resulted him to have a nosebleed in the middle of a shopping mall and he would never want that to happen again especially in the academy. ‘Just no way,’ he thought.

It was already past six when they arrived at their room. Jaemin doesn’t want to admit it be he felt disappointed that both his and Haechan’s plan didn’t go the way they expected to do, especially the tour part. Jaemin was really looking forward to it and it might not be obvious but he really hates it when his plans aren’t fulfilled. He’s just not the type of person to waste time and the three hours that went by were, for him, wasted.

Jaemin was currently sitting on his bed when the door to the bathroom suddenly opened, revealing a Haechan who just took a bath. For Jaemin, this scene is quiet familiar since this is also what happened just this afternoon but unlike the first time, Haechan is not fully clothed.

“I’ll be heading to the kitchen now, does lasagna sounds good to you?” Haechan asked while rubbing a towel on his hair, trying to dry it on the process.

Jaemin immediately stood up from his bed but as if on cue, Haechan stopped him from doing anything further, guessing that Jaemin wants to help him in the kitchen. “No, please don’t, I really don’t like it when someone’s with me when I’m cooking. Thank you but I can handle it.”

Jaemin knows Haechan doesn’t want to sound rude and he knows that Haechan’s just being honest when he said he doesn’t want to be with anyone in the kitchen so he then smiled and nodded his head. “Alright, if you say so.”

Haechan returned the smile the proceeded to grab his black hooded jacket before opening the main door to go out.

~

“Perfect,” Haechan said to himself as he looked at the ‘exquisite lasagna’, as he calls it, seated at the table in front of him. It took him almost an hour to complete the dish which he thinks is too long but then again, this will be the first time someone would be able to taste his cook and as much as possible, we wants to leave a good impression.

‘You’d better appreciate this Jaem,’ he thought to himself before turning his back to the dish, going towards the sink to wash the utensils and tools he used during the whole food preparation.

Midway on his little activity, his actions suddenly came to a stop when he heard something behind him. It took him seconds to confirm that there was indeed someone else near him so he turned off the faucet to focus on the sounds he’s hearing.

“Ahh, not here Jwi.”

Both of Haechan’s eyes suddenly widened with what he just heard. ‘That is definitely something sexual,’ he thought, not moving his body, afraid that the owner of the voice would notice his presence. Though he is sure that the voice came from outside of the kitchen but definitely just in the hall in front of it.

“I can’t, argh, wait,”

For some reason, Haechan suddenly feel his cheeks heating up, maybe due to the sexual tension just nearly around him and this is something he did not expect he’d be engaging with tonight.

“Stop,” the soft, feminine voice, breathed out, though Haechan is definitely sure that it belongs to a guy. “We must go back to the basement, the party just started.”

Now that got Haechan’s attention.

‘Party? What party?’ he thought. He never heard someone mentioning that there’s a party going on in the dormitory. In the basement at that. Well obviously, no one would invite him, but still.

“Arghh, ahh Jwi, room, room, let-let’s just, ahh, go to your room,”

Haechan’s mind is no innocent to these kind of stuff. Yes he might have not yet encountered these type of interactions but he knew what was going on with the couple outside.

‘If they’re gonna suck off each other, they should at least be doing it somewhere else except in the goddamn outside of the kitchen,’ Haechan mentally exclaimed, trying his very best to control himself and not to call out the couple outside.

A few seconds later, he could here footsteps walking, more like running, away just from the outside and after Haechan made sure that the couple was now long gone, he sighed in relief at the same time, to let out his frustrations. He then turned his eyes anywhere else before it finally landed on his so-called ‘exquisite dish’.

‘Fuck, now the melted cheese looks like yellow semen,’ he hissed mentally. His appetite completely thrown outside the window. He then closed his eyes, trying to remember what he was trying to do, but before his mind could reach a certain Na Jaemin, he suddenly thought about the party the couple just talked about.

“To the basement is it,” he said to himself, completely forgetting that he should be having dinner with his new and only friend. Without any other second thoughts, he removed the apron that was hugging his body for a while now and removed the plastic gloves he had been wearing, putting them back on their respective storage.

Now wasting any other time, he made his way towards the dormitory basement.

‘This better be not a prank.’

~

Haechan had never been into the basement, in fact, the only places he had ever went into the dormitory was the kitchen and his now shared bedroom. Nothing more, nothing less. Why? Because as much as possible he wanted to avoid ‘stupid people’. Yes, Haechan calls all the student in the academy ‘stupid’. However, as much as he hates to admit it, students from the elite class are indeed different. Even though he thinks Mark is dumb, he knows the lad has a brain, and when he says brain, he means an exceptional one.

As he was walking himself down to the mahogany stairs that would lead him to the basement, he could finally hear a blast of music coming from his desired location and the more he got nearer to it, the more the music became loud and clear.

There wasn’t really any doors or any kind of lockage that would prevent him from going to the location. Just a one single turn to the right and bam! The party is now in front of his eyes.

It was very dark yet very loud and he could hear many people screaming, cheering and well, moaning. How the party was organized was quiet smart to his own liking. It’s not just any typical dark but it was dark. Dark as in pitch black. No dancing lights, no neon lights, no disco balls, nothing, and he knows that this was on purpose. If there were lights, the students would be conscious and wouldn’t join the party in the first place, afraid that their reputation will be ruined if they’ll be seen drunk or horny or afraid that someone might recognize them as one of the heirs of their companies yet here they are, acting like sexually frustrated kids.

Plus the smell of the place was gross. Very gross. It’s clearly mixed with sweat, alcohol and other things that Haechan would gladly not imagine.

‘This is a bad idea,’ Haechan thought and just as he was about to turn around to go back up, a strong hand suddenly gripped his hand.

“Come on! One drink!” The unknown intruder yelled, trying his best to be heard. Haechan was fully aware that the person was a man and he did not recognize him, cause if he did, he’d immediately announce the presence of ‘dumbchan’ in the whole party.

“No!” Haechan answered back, also yelling to make sure the man could hear him, at the same time hoping that the man wouldn't recognize his voice

“Just one shot!” Haechan would want to insist on not taking the offer but realizing that the guy won’t let him go anytime soon, judging from his overwhelmingly drunk tone, Haechan just sighed and looked scanned his other free hand to the air, looking for the glass.

Successfully reaching it, he immediately gulped down the whole liquid in the glass without thinking. Suddenly, he felt a blast of fire going on with his throat which made him cough so hard.

“What the fuck was that?” He managed to ask, assuming that the guy who handed him the drink was till there beside him, to which he was correct.

Even though it was dark, Haechan could feel the man smirking before answering his question. “Balkan 176.”

‘Fuck.’

Haechan’s tolerance with alcohol is never that big. In fact, he couldn’t tolerate any single alcohol. Even root beer makes him dizzy but then again, no matter how dumb or smart he think he is, no matter how cool or lame he think he is, he is still a person and any person could be careless either intentionally or unintentionally. Unluckily for Haechan, tonight was one of his ‘unintentionally intentional’ carelessness.

So it was not a surprise when just a few minutes after he drank the liquor, he is now at his assumed dance floor, swaying his whole body with the beat that was dominating the noise of the whole place. Even though he couldn’t see or recognize anyone, he could still feel the presence of the people near him, also dancing their whole hearts out with the music.

It’s funny, he thought. If only they knew that the ‘dumbchan’ is currently with them, just within reach with their hair strands, they’d probably stop what they’re doing right away and worst, probably stop the whole party.

Or, they could also bully him. Normally, when someone is despised in the whole school, that person would be bullied every single chance the whole students could have and the basement party where no superior is present, is a very perfect chance. That’s what would likely happen in the dramas or soap operas Haechan had watched and he is completely aware that those type of brutality could happen in real life too, otherwise, writers and directors wouldn’t be able to come up with that kind of plot for their stories.

In the middle of giving his whole body out in the dance floor, Haechan did not realize that he’d been swaying too far until he bumped his shoulder with the person behind him. However, he didn’t really mind it thinking that it was normal in places or events like this so he just continued doing some bizarre movements that only a drunk Haechan would do.

One thing about Haechan is that he could feel it when someone is watching him. May it be an animal or any living being, he would immediately know that he’s been stared at. If it were any normal circumstances or if only he wasn’t too intoxicated with the alcohol, he’d straightly go to the person and rudely ask the person to piss off, but due to his current state, he brushed the feeling off.

‘And it’s dark, he probably don’t recognize me,’ he said at the back of his mind.

When the song ended, he expected a new one to immediately start however, a couple of seconds had passed but nothing is coming out from the speakers. He could hear a lot of echoing complaints throughout the entire venue and if it weren’t for the headache that was slowly crawling its way into every part of his brain, he would’ve complained too. Thankfully, just as he was about to yell his lungs out to call out the person in charge of the sound system, a sexy song suddenly echoed in his ears.

_~Boy you don’t have to be the last one standing_

_boy show me you could be the one, one, one~_

Suddenly upon hearing the song, Haechan’s eyes suddenly widened. ‘God, I like this song,’ he thought. So without any second thoughts, he swayed his body again, following each rhythm and each beat of the song.

It seems like Haechan wasn’t the only person who was being careless since he suddenly felt himself getting pushed backwards, resulting his whole back to collide with the person behind him, again. But then again, he couldn’t care less since his mind is not even functioning well in the first place so he just continued with his movements, his mind completely engulfed with the song, and yes the alcohol.

But it seems like the person whom he just bumped into was thinking otherwise. Haechan suddenly stopped on his tracks when he two hands respectively holding each side of his waist. Even though he’s drunk, he suddenly felt uncomfortable with the touch so out of instinct, he suddenly pushed the hands away in a strong manner however, the hold was firm and even stronger than his.

Suddenly, Haechan felt a breath of air on his nape going to his right ear, indicating that the stranger mouth is just a few inches away from his skin.

“Shhhh,” Haechan heard a deep, manly unfamiliar voice whispered before he felt himself getting pulled back by the hand son his waist which resulted him to stumble a little bit and if it weren’t for his back crashing into the person’s chest, he would’ve fell.

Swiftly, he felt the unfamiliar hands guiding him to sway his hips slowly. It was not foreful nor it was strong, in fact, it made Haechan somehow feel vulnerable. The whole intimacy is quiet a stranger for him but he found himself slowly following the stranger’s lead, leisurely getting comfortable with the stranger’s touch. His back was still pressed against the stranger’s chest which made him feel more warm and pleasant, leading him to forget everything else and just enjoy the company and the music.

After a couple of sways, Haechan then felt the stranger’s hold getting tighter and in a swift motion, he felt himself getting sprung almost immediately, resulting him to now to face the stranger. For a brief moment, he felt like his breath was hitched and the whole world stopped for him. It might sound a little over acting since there is no reason for him to get startled since he couldn’t even see how the stranger looks like but still, he felt somehow overwhelmed and weird noticing that a pair of eyes is also looking at him intently.

Seconds had passed and both of them remained in that position, the stranger’s pair of hand was still on Haechan’s waist and even though everything was pitch black, both of them knew that they’re both staring deeply at each other.

Due to the long pause, Haechan suddenly felt himself getting nervous, afraid of the thought that the stranger might have recognize him and was to shock to move. However, his thoughts were proven wrong when he felt the stranger’s hand moving upwards, not leaving his skin, going to his side up to neck until it reached his cheeks.

Haechan’s eyes widened to the nth time tonight, taken aback from the stranger’s sudden actions. Everything was happening to fast for him, barely giving him enough time to react to what’s currently happening. He’s drunk, yes, but since this was something he least expected, he couldn’t help but to force his mind to control the situation.

He was about to push the guy away from him but his plan quickly vanished when he felt his face getting pulled by the same hands in a very careful manner as if the guy was trying his best not to scare Haechan away. Finally, he felt his world suddenly came into a stop when he felt a pair of lips on his.

Haechan couldn’t completely register it. He’s currently kissing a stranger and most especially, this was his very first kiss. Both of his were still opened wide, too baffled to make any movements. He did not even realize that he’s been holding his breath for too long until he felt a slight massage on his nape.

There were no movements in the lips, no tongues, no fighting for dominations, nothing. It’s just as simple as two lips landing on one another perfectly. As the massage goes on, the stranger slowly pulled away from Haechan but not too far, both of their foreheads were still resting on another and they could feel each other’s breaths touching their faces.

Thankfully, the small gesture helped Haechan to relax his whole body, closing his eyes and finally breathing in a steady pace once again. As if the stranger felt Haechan claming down, he then brought himself closer to Haechan once again and closed the gap between them.

Haechan, on the other hand, seems like he immediately got used to the intimacy, finding himself reacting positively to the kiss which made the stranger tilt his head to the side, slowly deepening their interaction. It seems like the other lad was getting impatient that Haechan suddenly felt a hand on his back, pulling him impossibly closer and then he felt the other now using his teeth to slowly bit his lips, asking him for an entrance to which Haechan responded negatively.

Feeling that Haechan was being stubborn, this time, the stranger bit Haechan’s lips forcefully but not too much that would make it bleed. Haechan then almost let out a gasp from the unwelcomed pain he suddenly felt which made him unintentionally open his mouth slightly which he think is a very wrong move. Within no seconds, the stranger entered his tongue into Haechan’s mouth, escalating every part of Haechan’s from the roof of his mouth down to the floor before going back to his tongue. Haechan, on the other hand, doesn’t really know what to do since the experience is clearly pristine for him plus the fact that he’s been trying his very best to suppress a moan is not helping at all.

Running out of breath, Haechan effortly slid both of his hands between then, placing them on the stranger’s chest supposingly asking the guy to stop to which the other obediently complied.

His heart beat was beating so fast and he was panting very hard at the moment. He could feel himself getting dizzy, overwhelmed with the unexpected events that occurred just inside a single hour.

But that’s not the end yet.

Without any notice, Haechan felt himself getting dragged away from the dance floor by the hand that held him just a few seconds ago.

Haechan blaming the alcohol, he couldn’t help himself but completely get manhandled by the stranger. It’s not that he completely trust the unknown guy but he just couldn’t really take fully control of the situation.

With just a few turns in the whole place, ‘how could he even see where he’s going?’ Haechan thought, he found himself hearing a sound of a door shutting followed with a small ‘click’.

“What-,” before Haechan could complete his question, he was abruptly pushed backwards resulting his back to collide with the cold wall. Without giving him time to register what’s completely going on, the stranger then suddenly attacked his lips making Haechan’s heart almost bursting out from his chest. It took almost a minute before Haechan found himself relaxing once again to the interaction. He then felt the stranger’s tongue licking against his lower lip asking for entrance for the second time but this time, Haechan did not decline the request and just slightly opened his mouth willingly.

Their make out session was quiet long, breaking it from time to time to regain their breaths before diving in for another round from time to time.

In the middle on their seductive activity, Haechan suddenly felt long fingers trailing on the side part of his skin which made both of his widen, realizing that the stranger already made his hands inside his jacket, inside his shirt. Through instinct, he instantly pushed the stranger’s hands off of him however, the guy was surely stronger than him, pinning both of his arms in the wall.

The unknown lad then broke their kiss and Haechan could feel a pair of eyes eyeing him intently. Even though he’s completely aware that none of them could make out each other’s faces, a part of him is still embarrassed and scared that he might get recognized. His breathing was becoming more uneven than it already was and after a short while, the stranger let go of his hands and proceeded to cup his cheeks once again, diving in for another kiss. 

Feeling helpless due to the overwhelming headache that successfully swarmed all throughout his entire brain plus the fact that he’s slowly admitting that he’s enjoying the other’s company, he just inwardly sighed and loosen his entire body.

‘Just for tonight,’ he thought to himself, finally letting the alcohol take control of his whole self.

The other lad, as if feeling Haechan surrendering to his inner conflicts, smiled to himself in the kiss before making his one hand go over to the zipper of Haechan’s jacket, pulling it down on the process.

Haechan was quiet taken aback by the other’s boldness but instead of shoving the guy away again, he did the complete opposite thing, bringing both of his hands into the back of the stranger’s head, tangling the guy’s hair on his long fingers., pulling the other dangerously closer than they already are to deepen their kiss more.

After the stranger successfully took out Haechan’s jacket from his body, he wasted no time to follow the grey shirt that was hugging Haechan’s curves, already drenched in sweat which left Haechan bare chested.

Haechan then suddenly felt the absence of warmth when the stranger made a step back from him to which he assumed that the guy must be taking off his own top cloth too judging the silent shuffles he heard and his assumption was confirmed when a feeling of bare skin suddenly crashed on his bare chest almost making him let out a loud groan. All he could do was bit his lips forcefully to avoid making any sensual sounds that might turn off the guy in front of him.

For the nth time, Haechan felt his lips getting attacked and he’s pretty sure by now that they’re getting swollen each second. He then felt the stranger starting to move both of their position, slowly guiding him to god-knows-where without breaking their lips apart from one another. In just a swift motion, he felt himself getting pushed backwards which caused him to lose balance resulting his back to land on something soft.

‘A mattress? What the fuck, why’s there a bed here, where the fuck are we?’ Haechan mentally asked to himself but his thought quickly vanished when he felt when he felt the other climbing on top of him, spreading both of Haechan’s legs to place himself at the center and pinning both of Haechan’s hands on the soft cushion.

This time, instead of attacking Haechan’s lips, the stranger dived into Haechan’s neck down to his collarbones as if tasting every inch of the tan’s male body. Haechan could feel his bare skin getting bites and sucks from one place to another which he know would definitely leave marks a few hours from now. It would have been painful for him but the pleasure is more dominant at the moment.

‘Fuck,’ Haechan thought. He would’ve already moaned loudly if he hadn’t realized that the stranger had been silent the whole time. Thinking that it would be unfair for his part if he’ll let the other hear his voice while he’ll be left completely clueless of the other’s, he tried his best to suppress everything and just bit his lips hardly, not minding one bit if they’ll bleed.

Without any single warning, the stranger almost immediately grinded his hips unto Haechan’s making Haechan tightly shut his eyes, digging his nails into the stranger’s back just to stop himself from making any sounds. He could also hear the other panting very hard just like him, either from the pleasure or from the pain on his back. This made Haechan curious as to why he wouldn’t let out any sounds. ‘Maybe he’s too afraid to be recognized’, Heachan assumed so he mentally made a deal with himself to not to let out anything too.

Tonight must have been so full of surprises for Haechan when he suddenly felt the stranger’s tongue going to his chest, licking and sucking his nipples, going from the right one to the left. The unwelcomed interaction made him let out a loud sensual gasp before realizing it before slapping one of his palm on his mouth. However, his reaction didn’t made the other lad stop what he’s doing, in fact, it seems like it made him more eager to continue what he was doing.

Haechan was completely in a mess at the moment, his eyes were lidded and his breathing was all over the place as if he just went into a marathon. He’s mind was completely drawn into the pleasure that he didn’t hear the sound of a belt getting unbuckled. He was only woken up from his stance when he felt his pants getting dragged down from his waist down to his thighs. He was currently wearing jogging pants which made the stranger easily remove it from its position.

Before Haechan could react, the man dropped his body into Haechan which made both of them gasp from the blissful contact. “Ahh,” Haechan moaned in a whisper manner, still being careful not to get himself recognized.

The stranger then slowly grinded his into Haechan’s which made Haechan bit his lips until it bled. The pleasure was too sinful like it was a drug that which Haechan suddenly find himself addicted into. Even though the blast from the party could still be heard into the room they are into, Haechan could only hear the man’s heavy breathing into his ears which turned him on more than he already is.

Lifting himself up again, the stranger swiftly pulled down Haechan’s boxers before embracing Haechan’s hard member with his own hand, pumping it up and down in a slow yet forceful manner. Haechan, on the other hand, never felt so exposed his entire life. He can’t even remember his own parents seeing him naked when he was still a child but now, a complete stranger is having his way into his own body.

Hachan could only let out a small whimper as he delved his nails into the strangers back again, not caring if he’s hurting the other lad. Everything was already too much for him to handle so he had no time to care for the other’s well-being.

The contact was suddenly broken and Haechan could hear quiet muffles coming from the other lad but before he could adjust anything from his position, he suddenly felt his legs getting raised and thrown into the other’s shoulders.

Haechan’s eyes widened in surprised, fully realizing what’s about to happen. “Shit, no! Ah!-,” Haechan cried. He wasn’t ready for this. Haechan could feel tears coming out from his eyes, slowly sliding their way down to the Haechan’s ears. The guy just straight up went inside him without even giving him proper preparations. This was Haechan’s first time so the pain he is feeling was very unbearable at the moment. It hurts like hell as if his hole was cut open and there was a burning sensation he does not recognize and doesn’t want to recognize.

This time, the whole room was echoed with silent cries which was coming from Haechan. He wants his whimpers to stop to avoid himself getting embarrassed further but the pain and the intoxication was in control of his while mind and body. The man was still inside him but he felt him not doing anything. For a few seconds, Haechan continued to let out soft sobs until he felt a thumb slowly caressing his cheeks and wiping his tears in the process. He then felt bringing himself closer to him and before he knew it, the man kissed the corner of his eyes where the tears slid down.

For Haechan, the gesture brought him a wonderful feeling. It made him feel like a glass that was about to break, it made him feel vulnerable, it made him feel taken care off, it made him feel loved. He could feel the stranger pulling himself out from Haechan but before he could do it, Haechan grabbed the man’s hair and pulled him for a kiss.

With that, the stranger took it as a sign for him to continue but this time, he did it slowly. In a slow motion, he began thrusting himself in a steady pace.

“Ahh, fuck,” Haechan whispered. He felt weird at first but as the pace continued, the weirdness and the pain was replaced with immense pleasure, making him continue to dig his nails into the stranger’s back, still trying his best to suppress any moans from coming out. Yes the urn was still there but the pleasure was slowly balancing its way into him making him cry in both delight and ache.

As seconds passed by, the moderate thrusting slowly became fast as if letting Haechan adapt to the speed. The gentleness was still there but Haechan could also feel the desperateness of the other.

For not too long, Haechan felt a tight twist on his stomach indicating that he was about to reach his climax. “Ah- ahh, ahh I’m-,”

“Name,” the guys suddenly spoke, panting very hard which made Haechan realize that he’s also about to reach his climax as well.

Due to the enormous pleasure Haechan was feeling, he did not realize him slipping out a name he shouldn’t be giving to anyone.

“D—dong-hyu-ah!-Hyuck!”

Right after the name rolled in Haechan’s tongue, with a one last thrust, the stranger moaned his name ‘Donghyuck’ before both of them reached their peak.

_However, the voice is strangely familiar._

The stranger then slowly pulled out himself from Haechan before dropping his whole weight into the honey skinned lad. Haechan, on the other hand, was too tired to care plus the warm of the body on top of him unexpectedly came too comforting for him so he just closed his eyes and let the darkness enveloped him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed~
> 
> Hopefully, I'll be able to update the 3rd chapter next 3-5 days.


	3. Candle Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If you judge people,  
> you have no time to love them.”
> 
> -Mother Theresa

|9,181|

Panting very hard with sweats covering his whole head down to his back, Jaemin suddenly woke up from his unplanned sleep. His heart was currently beating very fast and he could feel it slowly aching. He then glanced at the wall clock only to realize that it was getting very late already.

’12:18 PM’

‘Shit,’ he cursed particularly to no one. Glancing around the room, he realized that Haechan didn’t come back yet. ‘Cause if he did, he’ll surely wake me up,’ he thought.

He quickly stood up and went towards his suitcase, taking out a pair of blue slippers, a brown cardigan and a pack of ramen. He then proceeded to grab his wallet, reminding himself that he placed a single pill of medicine inside it before his short trip to the central and placed it on the pocket of his cardigan.

Going to the dormitory’s kitchen was easy for Jaemin since Haechan already gave him directions a few hours ago. Plus, the big directory bulletin that was placed on halls on every floor was very helpful that it didn’t take him so long to reach the hall that would lead him to the kitchen.

The whole place was very quiet, making him assume that the people must have gone to bed already making him grow a bit worry about Haechan.

‘He wouldn’t just ditch me like that, would he?’

Shrugging off the feeling, Jaemin just continued his way to the kitchen but as he was nearing to the target place, he could hear soft giggles coming throught the walls which made him slow down his pace. For a while, he analyzed the voice if one of them belongs to Haechan however, the voice was quiet different yet familiar.

Mustering a medium amount of confidence, he turned his feet towards the entrance, not bothering the figures who abruptly stopped from what they're doing and just walked starightly inside. From the corner of his eyes, he could see a girl and a familiar boy staring at him intently as if he’s a ghost who just walked into them flirting with each other. The girl has an irritated look in her eyes while the guy was just staring at him blankly.

Without any words, Jaemin just strolled towards the cabinets, looking for a pot where he could boil and cook his ramen.

“Let’s just go to your room,” Jaemin could hear the girl said in a pleading manner which made him mentally cringe. It’s not that he’s eavesdropping but he can’t blame himself for hearing them since the girl didn’t even bother to lower her volume.

“Just go to your room and I’ll be there later,” the guy said sweetly. Jaemin could hear a sound of a peck coming from the couple but he just continued busying himself, not bothering to give them any attention.

Footsteps that are slowly fading echoed throughout the room, indicating that the couple must have left, however, Jaemin could still feel eyes that are like boring holes on his back which made him decide not to turn around and just looked at the water on the pot while it was in the process of boiling. ‘The girl might just be the only one who went out.’

Seconds turned into minutes and Jaemin could feel his heart slowly tightening, however, he tried his best to hide his discomfort since he could still feel and strange aura behind him.

Minutes for Jaemin turned into seconds and a blend of garlic and basil fragrance filled the entire room, indicating that the ramen is now fully cooked, making a small smile slowly forming on Jaemin’s lips. Not wanting to wait any longer since he could literally feel his stomach growling angrily for the past few minutes, he straightly grabbed the handle of the pot, followed with a pair of chopstick that was neatly placed on a shelf just above the right side of the stove.

Turning his heels quickly with the pot on his right hand and the chopsticks on his left, he was met with a pair of eyes staring at him with an unexplainable expression. The familiar lad was leaning his whole body on one of the base cabinet, both of his arms were crossed with each other, chillingly placed on his chest. By his intent gaze and formal position, one could easily tell that he looks as if he’s inspecting Jaemin’s every movements as if Jaemin is a kitchen thief.

However, Jaemin could only return the gaze boringly before heading to a barstool to eat, not wanting the other lad to get a reaction from him.

Upon arriving at the desired seat, he quickly placed the pot on the table and began filling his mouth with his ‘very-delicious’ ramen. Not even bothering to take it out from the pot and placed the food on the bowl.

Jaemin thought that the other lad would get tired of watching him and will get away soon especially since Jaemin wasn’t giving him any bit of attention but to his dismay, the guy is quiet hard headed. “Hungry?” Jaemin heard the guy asked which he wasn’t so sure if it was directed to him at the same time, also sure that’s it is obviously directed to him since there’s partially no one else in the kitchen.

Jaemin, not wanting to be titled “disrespectful” even before the first day of class, replied a quiet ‘mm’ in response before stuffing his mouth with noodles again.

He heard a small chuckle behind him and could hear light footsteps approaching him from behind. Before he could turn around, he heard the barstool next to him getting dragged and before he knew it, the other guy already took a seat next to him.

Jaemin just continued to pay his full attention to the food in front of him, trying to speed up his actions a little bit since he’s getting strangely uncomfortable with the unwelcomed presence beside him.

“Cute,” now that’s something Jaemin did not expect to come out from the other’s mouth. Swallowing the remaining cooked dough on his mouth, he placed the chopstick on the table with a soft ‘chk’ sound coming from it before turning his gaze to the guy beside him.

“What do you want Lee Jeno?” Jaemin asked in a not so threatening way. In fact, he sounded too casual for Jeno’s liking as if he’s not intimidated by his presence at all.

There was a moment of silence before the whole room was filled with Jeno’s chuckles for the second time now and what made it more amusing for him is the fact that Jaemin was looking at him as if he’s the most boring person the entire world. “You’re different,” Jeno managed to say after his ‘small laugh’ died down.

“Because?” Jaemin said boredly and Jeno knows that he’s least interested on whatever his answer might be.

“That. That’s exactly the reason,” Jeno said with a smirk on his lips. Jaemin, understanding what Jeno was pointing out, sighed outwardly before answering.

“You mean not getting head over heels with the almighty President Jeno? That’s exactly what normal is for me and your fangirls and fanboys? No, they’re not different, they’re abnormal.”

Upon hearing Jaemin’s response, Jeno’s laugh became louder and this time, Jaemin could see it. Jaemin could see how Jeno’s eyes turned into an impossibly exact shape of the crescent moon, but of course, he knows how to read people too well that he did not – not notice how the smile didn’t reach the eyes, and for some reason, he could feel his heart tightening again for a whole different reason, which of course, he did not pay much attention to.

“You know, If only I’m not aware of the standing of each of the students here in the academy, I would have thought you belong to Class A,” Jeno said, still displaying the eyes smile that everyone must be dying to see, according to Jaemin’s assumptions.

Jaemin did not bother making a response to that and just placed the chopstick back to his fingers and turned his attention to the waiting noodles in front of him.

‘Lee Jeno,’ Jaemin thought. If Mark is known as the Math Prodigy in their generation, then Jeno is the Science Prodigy, and that’s according to Haechan.

_“Jeno is the only respectable person around here,” and that came from Haechan which made Jaemin assume that Jeno must be the real deal when it comes to genius since Haechan has his respect. Why? Because Jeno managed to answer six out of the ten extreme questions in the Science test and Haechan and Jaemin agreed to how ‘mind-exploding’ the ten questions were. Haechan also told him how Jeno managed to answer two extreme questions on the Math test which is alright for a person who don’t call himself a Math Prodigy and that is why Haechan looks up to him._

_“Plus, he saved my life.” Haechan told him quietly. Jaemin doesn’t know what Haechan meant by that but before he could ask anything, Haechan quickly changed the subject to which Jaemin assumed that the tan lad doesn’t want to talk about it._

_Jeno was also elected as the president for their whole batch. Not just to the Elite class but also for the Class A and Class B. Even though each classes have their own class president, Jeno is still at the top which basically means that the president from the two other classes are under him. Haechan had explained to him how the election happened three weeks ago in which Jaemin wasn’t able to participate into due to personal reasons. Also the main reason why he just came today, the last day of their vacation._

_Further than that, Haechan informed him of how much of a player Jeno is. For the past three weeks, Jeno already got everyone wrapped around his finger, not that he planned to make that happen but Jeno was already quiet popular even before he reached puberty since he’s the son of the biggest hospital in the entire country and aside from reputation, he won several awards of being a Science genius at an early age._

_Aside from his intelligence and family background, his beauty is perfection ~~and that’s according to the local newspaper~~. For short, he’s the perfect definition of triple B. ‘Beauty, Background and Brain’._

“You’re thinking too deeply, mind sharing what’s on your mind?” Jaemin was awaken from his thoughts when he heard Jeno’s voice. He did not realize that he’s been staring at his food for more than a minute now and that he’s been thinking way too much, almost forgetting that he’s not alone.

Before making a response, he cleared his throat and looked at Jeno once again. Jeno could clearly see how blank Jaemin’s eyes were like they’re portraying Jaemin as an emotionless bastard which made him spark more interest for the latter. It’s not that he loves the attention he’s been receiving from the people around him but unconsciously, he’s been used to the fact that no one ever pays no attention to him and he wants to believe that Jaemin is only putting up a facade or is only playing the hard-to-get card however, the next words that came out from Jaemin’s mouth strucked him and for some reason, he felt a fire growing inside him.

“Lee Jeno, can you please stay away from me?”

It didn’t came out demanding. It didn’t came out with an annoyed or irritated tone. It was plain. Too plain that Jeno did not see it coming. Shock was an understatement but he didn’t show it, instead, he let out a small chuckle for the nth time now, too amused by the response he’s been receiving from a guy who belongs to the B class. Let alone to a guy who barely passes the entrance exam.

Jeno then placed both of his elbow on the table and rested his chin on the back of his tangled fingers, looking at Jaemin with a smug on his face. “Why is that?” Jeno asked, not bothering to hide his interest on the blonde male.

Jaemin slurped down all his remaining food before placing the bowl and the chopstick back on the table before letting out a shrug on his shoulders. “I want to graduate in peace,”

Jeno snickered loudly after hearing the response as if it was the most absurd thing he hear his entire life. Jaemin only looked at him weirdly like he was a guy who was going nuts.

“You really don’t know anything don’t you?” Seeing Jaemin’s blank and bored expression is clearly screaming a ‘no, I just don’t give a fuck,’ to which Jeno chuckled again before he continued. “Na Jaemin, first of all, the more you ask someone to do something, the more they won’t do it. Second, the very moment you befriended Haechan was the very moment you accepted an unpeaceful life in this academy.”

‘Third, the moment you blocked my kick, that’s the moment where your name will be engraved on everyone’s minds.’ Jeno added mentally but decided to not say that out loud since he’s also still trying to figure out how Jaemin did that.

Jaemin only stared at Jeno in response, giving him that unbothered look which adds to the sparks of his interest for the blonde. Sometimes, he even wonders if Jaemin has an alexithymia or if he’s just an emotionless being but nevertheless, something inside Jeno is feeling determined to crack that shell.

Everything suddenly became quiet to which Jeno feels like the silence is making him deaf. Never in his life did he experienced or met someone who would actually give him a silent treatment. Whenever he’s around, everyone begs for his attention, well maybe except for his ‘limited chosen friends’ so how Jaemin is acting towards him right now is quiet surprising for him.

Jeno’s thoughts halted when he felt Jaemin shifting beside him. He observed the blonde’s movements and he realized that the lad is pulling out a wallet from his cardigan. Jaemin then stood up from his seat before walking towards the water container to get himself a glass of water. After he completed his mini goal, he then took out the single pill from his wallet before throwing it into his mouth. He’s very much aware that Jeno eyes are still lingering into him but he’s more desperate to ease the throbbing ache he’s been feeling in his chest rather than to care that someone is witnessing him taking medicine.

Jaemin was still half way through emptying the glass when he heard Jeno’s voice from behind.

“Vitamins?”

Swallowing the last drop of water from the glass. Jaemin responded a small “yeah” before turning his heels to the faucet to clean his used dishes and utensils.

“At midnight?” Jeno sat up from his seat and walked towards the base cabinet located just beside the faucet and leaned his whole body into it.

“At midnight,” Jaemin said not bothering to give Jeno a look.

Jeno would love to argue that taking vitamins at night, especially at midnight, is never advisable but a part of his brain was telling him not to give a damn to whenever what the time Jaemin takes his vitamins. ‘Not my problem,’ was what he keeps on telling his mind as he witnessed the ‘unorganized act.’

Before Jaemin could finish washing the dishes, Jeno took the moment to leave, not bothering to say another word and just went out from the kitchen as if he wasn’t talking to anyone just a while ago to which Jaemin was mentally thankful for.

He doesn’t know why but Jeno’s presence is giving him an unusual feeling and he couldn’t really pin point whether it is something pleasant or the opposite from that and all he could think of right now is to avoid the lad.

Especially hearing his voice.

⁑

Jaemin woke up from his deep slumber when his not-so unconscious ears heard the creaking sound of the main door opening and closing quietly signaling another presence.

“Haechan?” Jaemin called tiredly as he rubs his left eye with his fist, at the same time trying to sit up, leaning his whole back into the bed frame.

“Go back to sleep, it’s still early,” Jaemin heard Haechan’s voice answered. However, Jaemin was quick to catch the small quiver on his friend’s voice, signalling that there’s something wrong with the latter. Meeting his desired position, he quickly reached out for the lamp switch on the desk just beside his bed to turn the lamp on.

When the small light illuminated the room, he darted his eyes towards where he felt Haechan is and to his surprise, the red haired guy looks awful. Haechan looks terrible with his shirt all crinkled up, his hair messy and dishevelled, his jacket thrown over his shoulder and his face. His face, Jaemin couldn’t even compare it to how it looked so fresh just a few hours ago. The room wasn’t litted up enough but Haechan’s circles under both of his eyes are too dark to go unnoticed.

“What the hell happened to you?!” Jaemin asked incredulously, proceeding to grab a pair of glasses which was seated on the night stand since he has night blindness therefore he needs to have a clear look of Haechan. At first, his could feel worry crawling inside him, thinking that Haechan must have gone into a fight and he couldn’t help but partly blame himself. However, looking at Haechan, he couldn’t see any form of bruises nor cuts in the tan male’s body.

Jaemin noticed that Haechan was trying to avoid his gaze and his hands were fumbling under the hem of his shirt. “Uh,” Haechan started with an obvious tone of hesitation. “I went to a party,”

“A party?”

“Yes, a party,” Haechan started to walk towards the bathroom and unfortunately for him, he could still feel pain under there.

Jaemin, on the other hand, is slowly observing Haechan’s actions and movements, clearly catching the fact that Haechan is lying. He noticed that the lad was having a hard time walking, in fact, he is limping. Not only that but as Haechan was nearing him, he could smell a reek of alcohol coming from the tan and a smell of ...

Jaemin’s eyes widened upon realization hit him, not that he’s sure about it but scanning Haechan from head to toe, he found his answer.

“Were you raped?”

Haechan whole body freezes on his spot except for his head which almost immediately turned towards Jaemin, both of his eyes grew large as saucers, bewildered by the fact that Jaemin made the question sound like it was one of the most common question asked to someone who just arrived from a party. “Wha-what are you talking about?”

Jaemin sighed before answering, realizing that he was too rash with his choice of words. “Look, I’m sorry, I really am. I won’t force you to tell me what happened but know that I’m all ears. I know that we just literally met today and just like you, I don’t trust people easily but I just want you to know I’m a friend.”

Haechan’s eyes softened upon hearing Jaemin’s words and Jaemin could see that a small of weight was somehow, been lifted on Haechan’s back but in a swift moment, Haechan’s soft eyes were replaced with confused and frightened ones. “But, what made you think that?”

Jaemin remained quiet for a moment, skeptical whether he should tell Haechan what’s on his mind but thinking the other lad needs to know, he opened his mouth to speak again. “First, your limping and you smell alcohol and, well, sex.” Jaemin stay silent again before continuing, “and there’s blood at the back of your pants.”

With that, Haechan’s eyes grew wide for the second time and this time, wider. Before Jaemin could say anything, Haechan suddenly dropped his whole body in the floor like a child and broke into tears, his loud cries echoed in their entire room and Jaemin could only hope that their room is sound proof so that their neighbors won’t be able to hear the break down. Jaemin quickly sat up and went towards Haechan and with instincts, he wrapped both of his arms into Haechan, letting the tan lad cry into his shoudlers.

“I-I di-didn’t mean it,” Haechan managed to voice out between sobs. Jaemin remained quiet and just patted Haechan’s back to help him calm down. He doesn’t know why but he somehow feels soft towards Haechan as if they had already been friends for a long time. He did not say anything aside from small ‘shhhs’ and ‘its alrights’, waiting for Haechan to speak first.

“I-I was drunk,” Haechan continued.

They remained glued in that position for a quiet while until Haechan was calm enough to raise his head and remove himself from Jaemin’s arms. Jaemin could see how red Haechan’s eyes were, probably he was already crying before he arrived in their room and not only from crying but he could see how tired they were.

“Jaem, I don’t know why but I want to tell you everything,” Haechan started to which Jaemin nodded and smiled softly in response. Even if they just met for a short amount of time, Jaemin can already feel a sort of attachment from the red hair making him think as if he was his own brother. Then again, his voice was very familiar to begin with and it somehow brought a sense of assurance into him. Also, he thinks Haechan feels the same way towards him.

“Can you stand up?” Jaemin asked with care and hospitality in his voice.

“I think I can but please lend me your shoulders for support.” Haechan asked to which Jaemin grabbed Haechan’s arms and swung it on his back as a response. “It really fucking hurts Jaem.”

Jaemin could hear Haechan’s voice cracking again like he was about to cry any seconds now. “Shhh, just bear with it once more,” Jaemin then lifted Haechan together with him and he could hear Haechan moan softly form pain as he brought him towards his bed.

He slowly dropped the tan male into his bed, being more cautious and more careful to not add any more pain into his friends aching body. Jaemin then sat on the side of the bed and when Haechan found a comfortable position, he looked into Jaemin’s eyes which were also looking back at him with a comforting gaze. As if convincing himself enough that he could trust the blonde, he started to open his mouth and told Jaemin everything that happened but only to the extent of what he remembered. He admitted that he was drunk but he also admitted that he gave in to the lustful desire. He also did not forget to mention how he doesn’t remember anything about the guy whom he just had done the deed with.

But of course Haechan remembered giving an undisclosed name but he thought it’s too early for Jaemin to know that part.

“Okay, first of all we need to get you cleaned up Chan,” Jaemin started with a hint of frustration and worry in his tone. “Like you said, the guy just practically opened you up and you know what’s worse? He did not even bother using any condoms or lube!” To say Jaemin is frustrated is an understandment but him, suddenly acting like an older sister (yes, not brother since if he was one, he’d be looking for the guy right now and have his head chopped off) gets Haechan taken aback in a good way since no one has ever cared for him this much.

“We need to get you to the infirmary,” Jaemin continued but before he could stand up, haechan quickly grabbed his hand, refraining him from doing anything else.

“No! Please Jaem, It’s already embarrassing enough that the whole academy thinks I’ve slept with someone from the board to get myself in in the academy, I can’t risk myself proving them right.”

Jaemin then shook his head after hearing his friend remarks. “Chan, first of all you are not proving them right, the guy took advantage of you in your weak state! Second, who knows if the guy whom you had have sex with is clean? We can’t risk you getting some disease, you know how fucked up the world is right now!”

“But no one would believe that! Everyone thinks I’m a slut Jaem and you’re aware of that and I’ll clean myself! I’ll do it alone!” Haechan is already on the verge of tears and Jaemin couldn’t help but give in to the eyes staring right through his soul with plead.

Jaemin was surprised at first that Haechan do care about what people say, but needless to say, even if Haechan indeed does not care, he could have his breaking point and maybe, just maybe, he’s almost there. So with that, Jaemin sighed deeply before putting both of his hands in the air, making a sign that he gave up forcing Haechan to go to the infirmary. “You know I really couldn’t force you into anything but please don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Haechan then grabbed both of Jaemin’s hands and held it tightly near his chest. “Thank you so much Jaem,” Jaemin then looked at him warily before opening his mouth to speak again. “You could get pregnant you know.”

Now that scares Haechan the most. Due to the advancement the world has become, getting a male pregnant is almost as normal as getting a woman pregnant but the chances with him getting pregnant is less than 10% since he’s still not at the adequate age for males to get pregnant. But even so, he couldn’t help but dread the thought since a chance still exist and he’s still so young to bear an innocent being into the cruel world and much worse, without a father so all he could do right now is hope that the ‘swift-drunk-sex’ wasn’t enough to make him produce a tiny being.

Jaemin, as if sensing the panic between Haechan’s eyes, released his other hand from Haechan’s grip and placed it on the red hair’s shoulder. “I’m just kidding, you’re still eighteen and the chances are lower than thirty percent so chill, what we should mind right now is that you won’t get any disease from that rapist.”

The word ‘rapist’ caught Haechan’s attention and with that, he crossed his arms into his chest and pouted. “No, I’m telling you I wasn’t raped.” Haechan insisted for the nth time now which earned him a raise of eyebrows from Jaemin.

“Something’s telling me you are defending the guy,” Jaemin finally concluded.

Haechan then looked down on his blanket and his cheeks starting to heat up and Jaemin could definitely see his cheeks slowly getting tinted with pink. “Okay, what the hell Haechan?!”

Jaemin was now beyond confused with the latter’s actions. Just a while ago, he was bawling his eyes out and now he’s acting like he just had hist first kiss taken by his long time crush.

Haechan, on the other hand, was brought back to the feeling he had just last night. How he felt the guy was treating his like he’s some kind of a porcelain glass, how those hands brought him a sense of undeniable comfort he never had, how the guy was giving him an immeasurable amount of pleasure at the same time was being careful not to break him.

“I know this might sound crazy right now Jaem but I felt loved.”

Jaemin looked at him dumbfounded, disbelieving that he heard Haechan right. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Haechan immediately shook his head, trying to prove a point which Jaemin knows he’ll never see at the moment. “I’m not, I can’t explain it too but it was different Jaem,”

“If that’s the case, why the hell were you crying your lungs out a while ago?!” Jaemin is not getting furious, not to Haechan but to how Haechan’s brain is working right now. “You scared the hell out of me Chan! For a second, I thought it was you who raped someone.”

Haechan then let out a small chuckle while sniffing a snot that was about to run down from his nose which Jaemin thought as ‘disgustingly cute.’

Jaemin then waited for Haechan’s explanation and before he could usher Haechan to hurry up and speak, Haechan made out a few words that almost became a whisper but Jaemin still managed to catch them.

“It was my first.”

The room became quiet again and Haechan, realizing that he won’t be getting any response from the blonde male soon, decided to continue. “It was my first kiss, my first sex, my first everything and it has always been my dream, my prayer, to spend my first with the person whom I’ll be spending my whole life with.” Haechan then bit his lower lip, slightly embarrassed with the words the flew right off of his mouth but at the same time, he thinks it’s too late to get them back again so he just continued.

“It’s my first and I know I sound ridiculous right now but I want-I want to find that guy, I want to hope that maybe, just maybe- we’ll find each other again.” Heachan said and a single tear ran down from his eyes which caught Jaemin off guard.

It funny. Jaemin thinks. Who would’ve thought that the almighty Haechan who always looks so tought and ready to fight back anytime would be this soft? Yes, he wants to slap Haechan back in the reality they are in and that there’s no such thing as fairytales in this world but he could see the hope between Haechan’s eyes and who is he to burn them down?

With a soft chuckle, he placed his right palm into Haechan’s head and ruffled his hair. “I didn’t know you’re such a hopeless romantic.”

Jamein might not believe in love but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe in hope.

~

Time flies by so fast that Jaemin did not realize the blazing light from the burning sun had already covered the entire sky. A radiance of light golden color had already passed through the window, going down in his bed which gave a small luminance to the area, barely reaching the other side of the room.

After his and Haechan’s long dawn conversation a few hours ago, he couldn’t find himself going back to sleep so he just went ahead and took a bath after Haechan. After his bath, realizing there’s still enough time to spare, he grabbed a small pocket book from his suitcase and let himself get swallowed by the unfamiliar words and phrases offered by the said book.

It was already quarter to six when he had the chance glance at the wall clock and he realized he still have time to have breakfast before going to his first class which will start on eight o’clock. Closing the book and placing it neatly at the corner part of his own desk, he sat up and stretched his whole body, both of his hands reaching the air. After doing the small action, he glanced towards Haechan’s bed and noticed that the red hair is still in a deep slumber.

‘Must be tired from yesterday’s events,’ he thought before trudging towards the sleeping body. He softly shook Haechan’s arms to wake him up and thankfully, Haechan complied easily, yawning softly as he tried to wake himself up.

“We need to eat breakfast,” Jaemin said.

Haechan then nodded and quickly made his way towards the bathroom, probably to make a quick shower. Jaemin could see that the guy was still limping and he felt bad that he wasn’t able to think about buying the other guy some pain killers until now.

While waiting for Haechan, he then proceeded to prepare his backpack, placing some what he thought as necessary things inside it like the small pocket book which he was reading a while ago. Along with the book was a black scientific calculator, three pens with black, blue, read colors respectively, a bunch of notebooks and his medicine.

After a few minutes, Haechan finally came out from the bathroom, already dressed in their uniform which was a grey polo shirt that has a small chest pocket which has the Afrókrema logo printed on it. Under the logo was a stitched single star implying that they are first years. The top was paired with a plain sand colored slacks, not too tight at the same time, not to lose. For the shoes, they were all required to wear black leather shoes which they gladly complied.

~

The academy’s cafeteria was already packed with students when they arrived. Unlike Jaemin and Haechan, almost everyone in the said place was wearing blue polo shirt indicating that they are Class A students. The pamphlet wasn’t joking at all when it stated that almost all of the academy’s population is covered with A students.

Jaemin could only breath in relief when he noticed everyone were busy with their own world. Some looks like they’re in a hurry, some were laughing loudly in their tables, while some were eating casually with their phones on their other hand. He doesn’t really want to go over the same thing that happened yesterday and a part of him was dreading the thought of getting attention again, well not him but Haechan, so he’s kind of feeling safe for now that everyone has their own world.

The cafeteria, just like the academy itself, looks expensive and it was full of glamour. It was big but not enough to accommodate the entire population of the academy, but still, it was large enough compared to the cafeteria on his middle school. His first impression of the said place is the main reason he’s gawking at the food served in front of him.

“One sunny side up egg and a cup of rice,” Haechan stated. “So much for expensive.”

“Sorry kid, you’re a Class B student and this is the menu for the day of your class.” The old man replied impatiently, waiting for Haechan and Jaemin to get the food and scram since there’s practically a long line waiting for them.

Unlike Haechan, Jaemin kept his complaint on his mind and just accepted the food that was served in front of him. ‘At least it’s free,’ he thought. But before he could go over the seat where Haechan was heading to, he turned his head to the old man once again. “Do you at least serve or sell coffee?”

The man eyed him for a quiet while as if talking to a class B student is annoying before exhaling an amount of air and moved towards the back. Jaemin could see him getting a cup and poured something inside it from a thermos flask and before he know it, a smell of coffee lingers in the air which made him smile lightly. He gave the man a big ‘thank you’ before heading towards where Haechan was seated.

“You look like you’re having the best morning.” Haechan said, eyeing at him with a questionable look while he took a seat in front of him.

Jaemin then took a sip of his coffee while look at Haechan, making it a way to answer Haechan’s questionable gaze.

“Wow, maybe I should try coffee too, maybe it will also make me the happiest person early in the damn morning.” Haechan said while playing with poking the egg yolk on his plate with his fork. “I can’t believe this, not only do they gave us food that could barely reach our esophagus but they’re also giving us low quality food! I mean, look at them!” Haechan further complained while pointing his fork at the tables surrounding them.

Jaemin then followed where the fork was adverted and he saw a table accompanied with students wearing white polo shirt, indicating that they are Elites. He then turned his gaze in the food lying on their table and realize how rich and classy their food are. Each of them were served with eggs benedict and it almost looked like they’re digging their knife and fork on a golden jewel. Aside from the dish, he also noticed how each of them has their own mug seated beside their plates and Jaemin could still see smoke coming from the container which made him avert his gaze to his own coffee and he realized that his coffee isn’t even close to ‘warm’ at all, in fact, he couldn’t even feel any heat from the cup. Upon realizing the ‘unfair situation’ according to Haechan, he just sighed and thought that he has no choice but to accept his fate.

“Are you hungry?” Haechan suddenly asked.

Jaemin only answered a small ‘I think so,’ as he began to stuff his mouth with the food in front of him. He couldn’t really care less whether the quality is poor or best, as long as he could eat breakfast, that’s enough for him.

“Here, you can have mine,” Haechan then pushed his plate towards Jaemin and Jaemin raised his left eyebrow, indication a ‘what’ and ‘why’ question.

Haechan looks like he was contemplating on what to answer but in the end, he gave the ‘I’m not really hungry,’ reason which Jaemin isn’t clearly buying.

“Look Chan, I doubt you had your dinner yesterday, and oh by the way if you did, you’re an asshole for leaving me out, but again, judging from the events last night, I don’t think you had so you must eat this.” Jaemin implied, knocking the tip of his spoon to Haechan’s plate, making a small ‘clang clang clang’ sound.

Jaemin could see the hesitation on Haechan’s eyes and it was obvious that the latter was getting uncomfortable so Jaemin just went ahead and asked him straight to the point

“Is it because of the low quality?”

Haechan’s eyes suddenly went wide, flustered by the fact that he made himself an open book in front of Jaemin. But then again, this is Jaemin, his ‘friend’ so he thought it’s alright to trust the blonde.

“I’m not really used to eating cheap meals,” he explained in an embarrassed manner, tone becoming softer and softer until the end of the statement.

Jaemin, on the other hand, could only look at Haechan blankly which made it difficult for Haechan to read his mind. Jaemin, according to his observation with the red hair, noticed how the guy is poise, well behaved and full of good mannerism back at their dorm. If he was any judgmental prick, he could immediately tell that Haechan came from a wealthy background and is not used to poor environment. Judging by how neatly arranged Haechan’s closet were from the darkest shades to the lightest shades, which he accidentally saw this morning when Haechan prepare this school uniform before going to the bathroom. He could also see from the latter’s accessories that he’s not just someone who came from a middle-class family, his Rolex GMT Master II Ice which was fitted nicely on his right wrist screams wealth and of course, the Michael large nylon backpack by Michael Kors made it more obvious.

It’s not about being judgmental, it’s about stating the facts.

‘It’s too early to tell but at least he’s not a spoiled brat,’ Jaemin think mentally before sighing.

“Alright then, how about you eat cafeteria’s food for the rest of the day and only just for today and starting tomorrow, I’ll make us breakfast and lunch if that’s alright with you.”

Haechan’s eyes suddenly sparked upon hearing Jaemin’s condition and he suddenly have the energy to eat the food in front of him. “That’s a promise alright?”

Jaemin then nodded and chuckled at Haechan’s suddenly-excited aura.

~

Both of them were in the middle of finishing their breakfast when an important subject suddenly came to Haechan’s mind.

“Hey Jaem, what specialties are you going to join into?”

Jaemin then looked up from his plate and cranked his head to the side, as if he’s having a small debate with himself on what to answer. “Hmm, I was thinking of Human Physiology.”

Upon hearing that, Haechan’s jaw dropped not quiet believing Jaemin’s decided specialty. Jaemin then saw his startled reaction so he raised his eyebrow, asking Haechan what’s the matter.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jaemin could only look at Haechan blankly for the nth time, indicating that he’s serious and isn’t planning to make a joke anytime soon. He’s not the type to have a sense of humour after all. “Jaem, that’s like one of the hardest specialty here and from the poll, almost everyone who choose that class are Elites and that includes our president.”

Jaemin then tilted his head to the side, not quite catching Haechan’s point. Honestly, he doesn’t care who else is gonna be joining that special class. It’s not his business nor does it’s their business if he join that one. But he’s confused about Haechan’s reaction. ‘Does Haechan thinks he can’t survive the class because it’s for the brainiacs? Does he think he’s not smart enough for the specialty?’

Haechan, as if he could hear Jaemin’s thoughts, immediately waved his hand in front of Jaemin’s face and went straight to the point. “Jaem, it’s not that you’re a B and I don’t think you can do it, it’s just that after what happened yesterday at the cafe, they might bother you.”

‘Ahh,’ Jaemin thought. ‘Yesterday, at the café.’

Truth to be told, he actually don’t know why blocking Lee Jeno’s kick is a big deal. Anyone would do that right to save a friend right? Jaemin thinks everyone is over reacting over a small thing. He didn’t do that to stand out, heck he did not even plan on doing that. Everything happened so fast that he let his muscles act on their own. Call it instincts but all he know was that he did what he thinks is the best thing to do which is to save his only friend.

“Jaem, in case you don’t know. Lee Jeno isn’t only popular for his brain and looks, he’s also a black belter in Taekwondo and was last year’s champion in high school league and that kick he did? That was one of his best techniques that no one managed to block.”

For the second time today, Jaemin let out a small “ahh,” understanding where everyone’s shock is coming from.

“How did you do that anyway?” Haechan asked with eyes full of curiosity.

Jaemin only shrugged in response and answered a small ‘instincts’ before paying his attention back to the food in front of him. He could see from his peripheral vision that Haechan is still looking at him with curiosity but he pretended not to see it and just finished off his food.

After a quiet while, Haechan cleared his throat before changing the subject of their conversation. “I was thinking on joining Statistics and Aerospace Engineering.”

Jaemin looked up from his food once again and looked at Haechan with a playful glint on his eyes. “Here you are telling me that I’m joining a specialty for brainiacs yet you’re doing the same thing.”

Haechan then dropped his spoon and fork on the plate, signaling that he couldn’t take the food anymore and looked at Jaemin with an exaggerated look. “Honestly, everything is boring and those two are the only class I find ‘okay’.” Haechan remarked while emphasizing the ‘okay’ word.

“You know it’s alright id you don’t join right?” This is true. It’s not really compulsory for each individual to join a specialty but it’s quiet an advantage especially if you want to get a job that suits your interest.

“Yeah but I need to join, in case there will be contest or whatnot, at least I could participate and earn.” Haechan explained.

“You make it sound you’re sure you’ll win.” Jaemin pointed out, this time, a small smirk crawled up on his face.

“I can if I want to,” Haechan said quietly, almost like he doesn’t want to Jaemin to hear that sentence to which Jaemin still managed to catch clearly. “I’m just hoping a certain Mark Lee won’t be joining the same specialty as I do.”

Jaemin then let out a small chuckle and before he could bring the last spoon of rice into his mouth, a sudden idea suddenly came into his mind. “Hey Chan, speaking of earning, why don’t we apply as a working student? That’s allowed right?”

Haechan then gave out an unsure gaze and Jaemin could understand why. If his assumption that Haechan came from a well-off family, then the term ‘working student’ might not have been added to Haechan’s dictionary. But then he sighed, determined to convince Haechan to join him.

“Come on, I was thinking of applying in the Fine Arts specialty majoring dancing and singing. That would be fun right? I mean who hates music?”

There must be a word from Jaemin’s statement that stood out from Haechan to make his eyes sparkle and blink with excitement. “Music?”

Jaemin then nodded gleefully, eyes full of encouragement which he thinks would help in convincing his friend. “We won’t be joining the class but at least we could sneak there in our free time.”

The moment Haechan smiled, showing his pearly white teeth, Jaemin knew he succeeded.

“Alright let’s do it.”

~

It was almost time for their first class when Jaemin and Haechan decided to stand up from their table to go towards their assigned classes. Luckily for the both of them, they have the same class schedule on everything which is a very big relief on their part. At least they don’t have to deal with getting along with other people since it’s obvious for both of them that their each other’s presence is enough.

Haechan was about to stood up when he felt a sharp pain in between his thighs, making him help in pain. Thankfully, Jaemin was already on his side and was quick to catch his falling body, helping him to steady himself.

“Shit, it fucking hurts,” Haechan moaned quietly, enough for Jaemin to hear.

“Can you walk?” Jaemin asked worriedly, his one hand on Haechan’s waist while his other hand on Haechan’s shoulder.

Haechan then nodded in response, his face scrunched up in agony. “But I’d be limping, do you think it’s weird?”

“It’s alright Chan, don’t worry about what others are going to say,” Jaemin patted Haechan’s shoulder, trying to assure him that everything would be alright.

“I don’t care about what they say, I just don’t want them to think that they’re right.” Haechan pointed.

Jaemin could only sigh before muttering a small ‘I know’ repeatingly.

Jaemin was still holding into Haechan, supporting him throughout their walk towards the cafeteria’s main doors but before they could reach half of the distance, a tall, blue-haired guy forced himself in between Jaemin and Haechan, causing Jaemin’s hands to get removed from Haechan’s body.

“Well well well, what do we have here.”

Haechan muttered something on his breath while he rolled his eyes in front of the intruder.

Jaemin on the other hand, ignored the man and went to the other side of Haechan, trying to support him again.

“Hmm, it seems like Dumbchan here had a good fuck last night.” The man said loudly, loud enough for some of the students to stop on their tracks and watch the commotion going on.

“Ignore him,” Jaemin whispered into Haechan ears before trying to drag Haechan again, away from the crowd.

Unfortunately, the nosy lad was able to catch his words and let out a loud laugh. “Ignore me? Ignore me? Who the fuck are you to ignore me?”

Jaemin then stopped trying to walk out and looked at the blue-haired lad with his signature blank face. The cafeteria suddenly became quiet, as if everyone is waiting for Jaemin to do something.

It was an understatement for the guy to feel intimidated with Jaemin’s cold stare, in fact, he could feel himself backing out but of course, his pride was way bigger than the feeling of intimidation. Before he could say something, Jaemin opened his mouth.

“And who are you to not be ignored?”

After those words came out from Jaemin’s mouth, sounds of gasp could be heard around them which made Jaemin roll his eyes.

‘Great, when will this ever stop, they are over acting again.’ Jaemin thought.

Haechan then looked at Jaemin, he was also startled but for a whole different reason. Jaemin was trying to talk back too someone. But then he could see it, he could see in Jaemin’s eyes that he’s tired of this drama and all he wants is to go to class. Before anything else could happen, he quietly held the hem of Jaemin’s polo shirt and pulled it back and forth, indirectly asking him to just let it go. It’s not Haechan’s nature to back down on a fight but he’s not in the mood and he’s afraid of the fact that one of the students looking at them right now is the one whom he spent the night with.

It all happened so fast that both Jaemin and Haechan did not see it coming. Jaemin was suddenly pushed harshly into his chest, making him lose his balance and land his butt into the ground.

The spark of anger between the intruder’s orbs was obvious and his face was getting redder and redder. If it was any cartoon show, one could see smoke coming from both of his ears, fuming in anger. “Who do you think you are? May I remind you that you’re a B!”

Jaemin just smirked before pulling himself up from the ground and dusted off his pants.

“Why? Are you the one who fucked Dumbchan? Was it wonde-”

“Stop!” Haechan silently screamed. It must be ironic how a scream turned into a silent one but that’s how he made his voice echo into the walls of the cafeteria. It was a scream but it wasn’t loud. It’s almost like a plead but it wasn’t.

Before any of them could say something, a voice that was full of domination and authority suddenly echoed in the entire cafeteria making all of them look at the direction where the source of the voice was coming from.

“Enough,”

Jaemin could see a guy walking towards them. Both of the man’s orbs were cold and were looking directly at them. The man looks so neat and so gorgeous at the same time. With his smooth pitch black hair styled up neatly which matched the while polo shirt, indicating that he is an elite, and his shiny shoes that was making a ‘clack’ sound every time it hits the ground. Everything about him screams decency and respect but one thing about him that catches Jaemin’s attention the most was that he was looking at him in the eyes and surprisingly, it has a hint of confusion on it as if he’s confused to see Jaemin.

But Jaemin knows that he’s the only one to realize that look since apparently, everyone was intimidated, even Haechan.

“Do-Doyoung sshi” the man stuttered. “I was just asking Haechan here why he was limping but this guy here,” he then pointed Jaemin accusingly, “he suddenly pushed me out of nowhere.”

For some reason, Jaemin wasn’t surprised that the guy was accusing him of something he didn’t do. It’s like he already expected something like this since yesterday. People here might be smart but it was obvious that some of them are immature spoiled brats and that includes this guy who’s pointing a finger on him.

He hates it. He hates it when someone points a finger at him. It’s like someone is stomping on his pride. Oh, how he wants to bend that finger over until it breaks but he’s in a rational mind and he knows doing something like that will cause him expulsion and he doesn’t want that to happen especially on his first day.

He just remained on his spot, unable to move anything. its not that he can’t, he just won’t. The blue haired guy was about to say something again, still pointing his index finger at Jaemin, but before he could let out any other words, much to everyone surprise, the man called Doyoung suddenly held the man’s wrist and bended it upwards.

“Stop pointing fingers, it makes you look like an idiot than you already are. I don’t tolerate lying here in the academy.” Doyoung looked at the guy with a sharpness under his gaze.

“What are you talking about? Are you saying that I’m lying? You can ask everyone here!” The guy then looked at his surroundings, scanning his gaze in the crowd surrounding them. “Tell him! Tell him it was this guy who pushed me first!”

“I don’t need them to tell me Yeonjun, I saw it with my own two eyes.” That got the Yeonjun zipped his mouth, it’s clear that he can’t get out of the trouble he caused in the first place anymore. “Lying and harassment, you’ll need to go through detention today and tomorrow. I’ll go easy on you since this is your first time and you’re a freshman, next time, you’ll have to face a harder consequence.”

The guy, Yeonjun, looked like a scared puppy underneath Doyoung’s hold. They might be almost of the same height but Doyoung was clearly towering the guy with more dominance, and Yeonjun’s scared expression wasn’t helping at all.

Yeonjun almost immediately whispered a ‘yes vice’ before running away from the crowd. When he was already out of their sight, Doyoung then let out a sigh before turning his gaze towards the crowd, the students who were looking at them like they’re filiming a show. He let out a tiny scowl, messaging everyone to scram. The moment the place was clear, he quickly turned his gaze back to the duo. “I apologise on behalf of Yeonjun’s stupidity. I hope that won’t leave you a bad impression in the academy.” Doyoung offered them a small smile but Jaemin could see that there’s something else behind that smile. He hopes Haechan could see it too.

There’s judgement and annoyance.

After the apology, Doyoung excused himself and went back to his own business, clearly showing that he’s not interested and he’s not sincere with the apology since in the first place, he doesn’t owe them one.

Jaemin and Haechan could only sigh before minding their class again.

Both of them went sprightly to their classes. Thankfully, they still have seven minutes left before the bell rings and their class wasn’t too far from the cafeteria, giving them enough time to go to their classroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first of all, I apologise for any wrong grammars and please, if you're confused about something, just ask. I am more than willing to give answers unless they are part of the plot twists hahaha.
> 
> Second, wow a lot of thing had happened in just a span of one day. (Three chapters for day 1 in the story. I am indeed surprised as well) If you think I'm dragging the story too long, lease understand that I'm doing my bestt o describe everything as much as possible to avoid confusion in the next chapters. 
> 
> Lastly, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. XOXO


	4. Don't Need Your Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's there. I know it is.  
> Because when I look at you, I can feel it.  
> And I look at you, and I'm home."
> 
> -Finding Nemo

|11,805|

Entering their assigned room was quite a sight for both of them. They didn’t know what to expect but they surely wasn’t expecting the sight that greeted them. Everyone was already talking to each other, in fact, a blonde guy who had lighter shades than mark’s hair, was cracking jokes at the center of the class and everyone was laughing along with it.

Maybe Jaemin and Haechan were expecting the class to be gloomy or expecting the other students to form islands in their classroom but to their surprise, everyone was going along well with everyone else that they don’t know if they can fit in in the environment or would they become loners in the batch.

Their eyes scanned the whole area, looking for vacant seats and both of them were hopeful for a chance to be sitting next to each other. Everyone seems to be quiet engrossed with their own conversation that they did not notice the blonde and the red hair walking towards the second to the last row of seats.

Much to Jaemin and Haechan’s relief, thankfully there are two vacant seats next to each other which were also seated next to the window. Haechan gave the seat next to the window to Jaemin, saying that he has fears for windows, which Jaemin accepted gleefully. This is where he also understood why Haechan did not took the bed next to the window in their dorm.

Both of them found comfort in their location and were having a laughing conversation that they did not notice a long legged slim girl walking towards their front.

“You’re Dumbchan right?”

Haechan was startled with the sudden question that met him and he turned his gaze towards the voice and found a girl that has long brown hair, barely reaching her waist, with a not so heavy dark make-up on her face, making her look slightly strict. Above anything else, the fact that she looks like a cat made her stand out (and that’s a compliment.

“My name’s Jisu but you can call me Julia, depends on what you want.” She said, extending her hand in the air.

Haechan found himself almost dumbfounded before he catches his own expression and cleared his throat. “Uh, Haechan,” he said while returning the gesture, shaking her hand but barely touching her palm.

Jisu then showed him a smile, a welcoming one, before turning to look at Jaemin who doesn’t seem interested at the greeting. “And you are?” she asked, directing her hand to Jaemin’s front.

Jaemin looked at her eyes for a brief moment before accepting the gesture. “Jaemin.”

“Wait, wait, did I hear Haechan and Jaemin?” A guy with almond-shape eyes who was weirdly wearing a handkerchief as a bandana on his head asked with wide eyes, trudging towards them excitedly.

“Haechan and Jaemin? That Dumbchan and that blonde guy? The ones who poked Lees’ nerves?” Came a pale girl with long dark blonde curly hair.

Suddenly, Jaemin and Haechan’s place were crowded, as if their whole classmates were eager to meet both of them.

“Did you really fought with the Lees?” the blonde girl asked once again.

Both Haechan were suddenly overwhelmed by the attention they’re getting and what startled them is the fact that instead of meeting scowls, they were met with smiles. They were met with eyes full of excitement and friendliness.

The room became silent and all of them were look at both of Jaemin and Haechan, waiting for an answer. Haechan looked at Jaemin, indirectly asking for help since he doesn’t know what to answer exactly, so Jaemin didn’t have a choice but to give them a response.

“Uh, yes?” he said, more like asked. Not quite sure if that’s the response their classmates wants to hear.

Suddenly, the blonde girl gasped and, is that sparkles on her eyes? “Oh my god, I love you guys already!”

“Yah, stop it Hyewon! You’re scaring them!” Jisu said. “I’m sorry about that, it’s just that ever since we step a foot here in the academy, we’ve been looked down the moment A students recognised us as Bs and no one ever stood up for us.” She explained with her eyes looking on her hands. Looking at her, one could tell she looks like she’s been rejected.

“Yeah, and we’re quite proud the moment we received the news that two freshmen students from class B didn’t tolerate their shits.” The guy with the bandana explained. “I’m Dino by the way.”

“Well to be fair, it’s not that we stood up for our class. I didn’t even know that it’s not just me they’re insulting until now. I just fought for myself and I really can’t stand Mark’s presence and Jaemin here helped me and that’s practically it.” Haechan explained in a smooth manner.

“I can’t stand all of them, I can’t stand all students from Class A, much more Elites. They’re so full of themselves!” Dino said with determination in his eyes as if he’ll be going into a war with the people he hates. From Jaemin’s vision, everyone else agreed to what Dino said and to be honest with himself, he didn’t expect students from class B to hate the students from the upper division. He thought everyone admires them but apparently, he’s wrong.

Everyone were chatting loudly, trying to get to know Haechan and Jaemin, at the same time, trying to introduce themselves. They were all in a comfortable conversation when a guy who introduced himself as Beomgyu asked something which lead everyone to silence.

“Haechan, are the rumors about you true?”

Hyewon suddenly elbowed Beomgyu’s side, making him realise that he asked at a wrong timing.

Beomgyu on the other hand, only looked at her with wide eyes. “What? I just want to hear the truth from him.”

Before Hyewon could answer back, Haechan beat her to it, waving his hand in front of them, telling them that it’s alright. “Honestly, I don’t want to talk about it and I don’t expect you to believe me guys but no, I did not sleep with anyone just to enter this school.”

Everyone nodded in response but it wasn’t clear whether they believe him or not and Haechan put up his usual ‘i-don’t-care’ face but for the first time, deep inside him, he cares.

He didn’t care last week.

He didn’t care two days ago.

But now he does.

He’s completely aware that the guy he slept with don’t recognize him but still, he doesn’t want to ruin his image further, anticipating the idea of meeting that guy someday. He doesn’t want to be rejected by that guy just because of the false rumors going on around him.

The bell rang, indicating of the first class to start, which made everyone return to their seats. Finally giving Haechan and Jaemin space and air to breath. Jaemin might not show it but deep inside him, he’s getting impatient and annoyed by getting so much attention. He doesn’t hate his ‘new acquaintances’ but he just hates talking too much or getting attention. It makes him feel like he’s losing energy and it hasn’t even been half of the day yet.

~

Their first class was with Mr. Kim Junmyeon. From his physical appearance, it was no doubt that Mr. Kim is quiet a strict professor with a high standard. With how he never smiled, with how he glared at anyone who makes unnecessary sounds, with how he mocked Hyewon with sarcasm for drinking water in the middle of discussion. It’s still the first day but it seems like he already got the title ‘Terror Algebra Prof’. The class lasted for an hour and thirty minutes, with the first thirty minutes covering basic algebra and the other half going to advanced algebra. For the remaining thirty minutes? Pop quiz of course. From their observation, or at least from Jaemin’s, it’s that Mr. Kim is the exact definition of ‘punctual’. The moment the clock stroke at eight was also the very moment the sole of his shoes touched the floor of their room and the moment the clock strike at nine – thirty was also the exact moment the sole of his shoes stepped out from their room.

Their second class for their Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule is Physics 1. Luckily, their next assigned room is just three meters away from their first room but still, Jaemin is hoping that their Physics professor wouldn’t be as punctual as Mr. Junmyeon but to his dismay, when they arrived at the said room, the prof was already seated at the teacher’s table, obviously waiting for them.

‘Two minutes behind, damn,’ Jaemin hissed mentally.

Their teacher’s name is Mr. Huang. If one would judge him physically, he looks like he haven’t sleep for days probably staying up late at night to study more despite having the brains already and blame the dark circles under his eyes for that judgement. Unlike their previous teacher, ironically, Mr, Huang is quiet friendly and he even makes dirty jokes from there to there, calling it ‘physics’ which earned a laughter from the whole class. Without the jokes, the lecture would be very boring since they were only discussing some of the basics like distance, speed and acceleration. For the last thirty minutes, they were asked to make a short essay about ‘Physics’ which sounds like a high school thing. The only difference is that Mr. Huang specified that the essay should be professional-like and it would make up twenty points.

“If I think your score doesn’t deserve an eleven point or above, then that would automatically be zero,” says Mr. Huang while giving his evil smile.

On their third class, which is Calculus 1, they didn’t have to change room since they are assigned on the same room for the said subject. Unlike Mr. Kim and Mr. Huang, Mr. Byun is not so punctual which gave the class a time to breath, but not after he took his first step inside the room. They once heard a rumor that Mr. Byun is someone who radiates energy like it’s his twin brother but the rumors seems fake since he was already frowning, both his eyebrows almost already meeting each ends at the center the moment he stood in front of the class and without any further ado, he started a pop quiz.

If it wasn’t for his dreadful aura, the students would have groaned in complain but neither of them made a sound and just immediately grabbed a clean sheet of paper.

For the whole period, they just answered the four-item test which consist of differential equations. Jaemin was busy scribbling some formulas from his stock-knowledge on the white paper in front of him but came into a halt when he heard a soft snore form his left. He turned his head to the source and saw Haechan cat-napping peacefully, leaving his test unattended. He then observed the other students and he could see some actually trying to answer with brows scrunched up in confusion, some just staring at the questions in the board with their mouth slightly open, while some busy clicking the digits in their calculators. After his short observation, he turned is gaze towards Mr. Byun to see if he was also observing the class but small guess is wrong after seeing Mr. Byun who seems to be engrossed in the book he was reading.

He then took this as a chance to nudge his pen towards Haechan’s sides. Haechan, upon feeling the small disturbance, opened his eyes and shook his head towards Jaemin and went back to sleep. Heaving a deep sigh, Jaemin looked at his paper and realised that he managed to answer the first two questions which would equivalent to fifty if he got them right. So without any further stress, he closed the cap of his pen and folded his paper neatly before turning his attention to the outside of the window.

Not even bothering to answer the rest of the questions.

When the clock strikes at twelve sharp, both Jaemin and Haechan almost splinted out from their Calculus room and immediately went straight to the cafeteria. They only had a thirty minutes lunch break and they decided beforehand to use the first fifteen minutes to eat lunch and the other half to sign up for their wanted specialties and apply as working students for the Fine Arts class.

Just like their breakfast, Haechan had his disgusted look as he eyed the food served in front of him. Almost like as if he was forced to eat spoiled meal. Their lunch menu for the day was a bowl of mac and cheese and a glass of orange juice. Haechan couldn’t help but envy the sparkling goopy carbonara served in front of the A students and the appetizing aroma coming from the porcini risotto that was served to elite students. A lot of complaints were still coming out form his mouth but not as much as this morning. Jaemin on the other hand, ate the food silently while giving out a small chuckle from time to time when Haechan finishes his complaints.

Since their lunch isn’t a dry food, it was easy for them to finish it and thankfully, they stuffed everything into their stomach for ten minutes, giving them extra five minutes to sign up for their specialties so without any further extra talks, they immediately went to the ‘Specialty Department’.

After knocking the main door three times of the said department, they heard a small ‘come in’ which signalled them to open the door. Thankfully, the department was deserted except for the pale lady seated in front of a big table that has a flat screen led at the top, probably students were done signing up since it was practically the last day of specialty enrolment anyways.

Both Jaemin and Haechan were yet to give a greeting nor introduce themselves when the same voice that let them in spoke. “Just fill up these papers and you’re good to go,” the lady said which has a nametag “Bae Joohyun’ pinned right above the right chest part of her coat.

Haechan grabbed the papers hastily since Ms. Joohyun sound like she’s in a hurry or she doesn’t want to be disturbed. He then handed the extra forms to Jaemin before both of them started filling out the blanks of the form.

Jaemin, thinking that he doesn’t have to pressure himself too much and that signing up in two specialties would be a waste of time and would give him more stress in the future, decided to just sign up for one which is Human Physiology, just like what he told Haechan during breakfast. Also, he had told Haechan that he decided to take one more working schedule aside from the Fine Arts, reasoning that he would need more stars to buy more books and joining competitions like what Haechan suggested is not really his thing.

_“What books?” was the first question Haechan threw at him when he told the latter about his decision, to which he only responded with a shrug and a quiet “just Science stuff” to which also he got a “nerd” as a response from Haechan._

Haechan, on the other hand, said that he’d rather be pressured that be bored so he decided to go for the two specialties he previously mentioned which are Statistics and Aeronautical Engineering.

Sometimes Jaemin would wonder how ironic Haechan is. If he was to judge Haechan basing on the one and a hlaf day span since he met him, he sees Haechan as someone lazy and someone who doesn’t take studies too seriously so it makes him wonder how would Haechan be able to feel ‘unbored’ by signing up for two specialties when in fact, he just slept the whole period on the Calculus class, given that they were having a pop quiz.

‘Just what is his definition of fun exactly?’ he wonders.

“I’m done,” Haechan announced right after he wrote his uniquely styled signature at the bottom of the second form he has. “How about you?”

“All set,” he answered with a grin. They then handed out their forms to Ms. Joohyun to which she received in a swift manner.

Due to the not-so welcoming manners Ms. Bae is sending them, it made jaemin doubt wether to open up about the application for working since she seems like she doesn’t want to be disturbed any further. However, Haechan on the other hand doesn’t seem like he gave a damn about her pissful attitude.

“Where can we apply for working students?”

Ms. Bae, for the first time, finally met their gaze, more like haechan’s gaze, taking her eyes off from the computer screen in front of her. She is a very pretty lady in face, her face could be the definition of gorgeous if only she’d stop displaying an annoyed image and turn the corners of her lips upward a bit.

“Where do you want to apply to?” She asked, her attention now fully on both guys in front of her.

Haechan looked at Jaemin for a second, his look showing an indirect message of ‘now, this got her attention’ before answering the question.

“Both of us wants to apply in the Fine Arts department majoring music.”

Ms. Bae then nodded before turning her head again to the computer screen. She began doing the typing-slash-clicking actions which made both of the lad assume that she’s trying to find them the job.

After what seems like a few minutes, she looked up with a small smile tugging on her lips. “Luckily for both of you, no one has yet to apply in that major so both of you can work there. I don’t really know what kind of job you’ll be having but the cleaning the rooms is a definite.” Ms. Bae said with a smile, her rude attitude before completely gone and was replaced with a soft and pleasing persona. “Is there anything else?”

Jaemin then stepped forward to get her attention. “Can I apply for another work? I was wondering if I could work in the Pharmaceutical Science department as well.”

Ms. Bae started with a soft ‘hmm’ with her eyes looking at particularly nowhere, as if contemplating with the possible answer. “That would take mostly of your vacant time but since,” she stopped midway and scanned the form Jaemin previously signed before continuing, “since you only signed up for one specialty, you’re allowed to take two working schedules but please keep in mind that we won’t be held responsible if you fail any of your classes,” she explained. She then stood up from her seat and turned to the back to get some papers neatly placed in one of the wall shelves. “Here, sign this form and for you Jaemin, sign two form and boys, please don’t forget to write the departments where you would want to work into.”

Both young lads bowed their heads and together, they said a small “thank you” to express their gratitude as they get the other forms from the woman’s hand. After filling the papers and signing it, they gave it back to Ms. Bae and after a couple of minutes, she handed them what seems like to be their ID that will identify both of them as working students in the departments the signed into.

“Please don’t lose the ID and wear them every time working time or when you’re at the working area. Also, the dancing and singing class will start later this afternoon, if I’m not mistaken, I think it will be from five-thirty to eight-thirty in the evening. You should be there, I’m sure Mrs. Jung will need your help since it’s the first session and all, I’ll just text you the full schedule later.”

Both young men didn’t expect that they’ll have to start working so soon but nevertheless, they’re both excited and can’t wait to start their first ‘job’. [Well, Haechan’s first job].

They bowed their heads for the second time towards Ms. Bae before to bid their goodbye but before they could head outside, Ms. Bae called their names and drop the last information they never know they needed until now.

“A lot of students signed up for Fine Arts especially for dancing and singing major so I just want to give you a heads up that you’ll be working under the schedule where Elites and some of A students are mixed up. The other schedule is on Friday but I can’t allow you to work on that schedule since B students will be there and since both of you are B students, I think you understand my point. For you Jaemin, fortunately no B students signed up for Pharmaceutical Science and the number of students who signed up for that class is only a few which leav1es to a single schedule so you won’t be able to change that. That’s all guys, I wish you luck!” she said gleefully, almost like she’s the one who’s excited for the both of them before bidding them a goodbye.

“Damn, we applied for this to breath, not to face Satan’s children.” It’s funny how Haechan called ‘working’ as ‘to breath’ but maybe that’s because of his love for music, the only reason he didn’t sign up for this specialty is because he think he doesn’t have any particular talent related to the industry and no matter how much he loves music, his love won’t help him not to embarrass himself in front of other people.

Jaemin then sighed, normally he wouldn’t care but finally realizing how ‘handful’ A students are, he knows this will add up to the stress he’s beginning to feel. “If anything goes wrong, we can always quit.”

“Dude no way! If they’ll give me trash, I’ll give them hell, and besides, I’m sure we won’t really be assigned in the room, we’ll probably just be asked to stay in the shadows.” Haechan said sounding so sure but Jaemin can’t blame him. What they need right now are confidence and positivity and that’s exactly what Haechan is giving off at the moment so he’s quiet thankful for Haechan’s optimism. If Haechan’s okay with it, then he doesn’t have any reason to feel bothered.

They still have a few more minutes before their first afternoon class starts so instead of g in a hurry, they took their time walking towards the next room, familiarizing the path and the surroundings at the same time. Each person their eyes land into are still unfamiliar to them but both knew it’s still the first day and they still have a long way to go.

~

Going to their assigned Chemistry classroom was harder than they thought since the said room is on the other building which was the Science building. Upon arriving at the room, they sighed in relief that they still have a minute left before clock strikes at twelve-thirty and thankfully, there were still a lot of vacant seats. Both of them decided to go to the second to the last row and again, Jaemin was near the window side while Haechan beside him.

It was weird how there were only twenty one of them in the room, as how Jaemin calculated even when ten minutes had already passed since the start of the class. Their professor, who introduced himself as Engr. Kim Taeyeon didn’t seem to be bothered at all.

Just like Mr. Huang, Engr Kim started discussing some of the basics of Chemistry and their branches. She also explained to them how their discussions will be fast since there were a lot of topics to be discussed and most of all, she expects to memorise everything on the periodic table by next Monday.

It was almost the end of their period when Engr. Kim suddenly went off topic with her discussion. “In case some of you were wondering, the other nineteen students who were supposed to be in this class were called to the counsellor’s office since they apparently started a fight with the Elites in the cafeteria.”

Haechan suddenly smirked with a ‘hm’ sound and muttered a “of course it’s going to be them whose getting the punishment,” which didn’t go unheard by the professor.

“Yes, your friends will be the ones getting the punishment since they attacked physically first and before you start thinking that it’s probably a lie, the whole event was caught in one of the cctv cameras in the cafeteria.” Ms. Kim explained to everyone but her eyes lingering on Haechan.

“But they must have provoked them!” a girl, who introduced herself as Yena earlier this morning, spoke up which made Ms. Kim turn her gaze away from Haechan, going to her.

“That doesn’t really matter. In the real world, if you let words get into you, you automatically lose.”

‘Unfair but true,’ Jaemin thought. He’d been on that situation many times now since he was practically bullied on his middle school days for either of the two reasons: he don’t live with his biological parents or because he’s a working student. But on his part, he never really cared too much. Ever since he was a kid, his adoptive father already taught him a lot of things and that includes maturity. At first, he would cry alone in his room because of the painful words that were thrown at him but as time goes by, he realised that he shouldn’t really let those words get into him and without realising it, he went numb.

~

Finally, Chemistry class is done and they’re about to face their last class for the day which is Physical Education 1 if it wasn’t for the another thirty minutes break they have. For some unknown reason, the number of students registered in the class if only twenty in this class which Jaemin find odd since P.E. normally is a crowded class. Walking out from their Chemistry room, Haechan was still struggling to walk properly and before they could walk towards the gym, Haechan asked Jaemin to accompany him in the bathroom first thinking he’s feeling something uncomfortable between his thighs.

“Hurry up, we only got thirty minutes break before class starts.” Jaemin semi-complained outside the bathroom stalls, urging Haechan to fasten up his pace. Thankfully, the bathroom they went into is empty.

“Jaem, it’s bleeding again,” Jaemin could detect a quiver on Haechan’s voice, a sign that the red hair lad is about to cry any seconds now and he needs stop it before Haechan would appear in the P.E class with puffy eyes.

If it was any weekend or anytime in their dorm, Jaemin would automatically panic but being rational enough, he knows panicking won’t help at all. “Okay, first of all, I need you to calm down and grab the tissue you packed earlier in your bag.” He could hear a sound of a bag unzipping which tells that Haechan followed his not-a-demand-but-a-demand and he waited for few second before speaking again. “Did the blood went through your pants?”

It’s funny how he sound like he’s talking with a girl whose going through her weekly menstruation cycle and to his surprise, it doesn’t sound awkward at all. Well maybe it’s because it’s not a girl he’s talking to and it’s Haechan most of all. (Or maybe he just doesn’t have the time to get awkward cause their almost running late and one thing Jaemin hates is being late.)

Jaemin then heard Haechan said a quiet ‘no’ which makes him breath in relief. A small relief. “Alright, now since we’re going to be late anyways, let’s just go to the clinic, we need you to get cleaned up properly and let the experts check if you’re bruising down there.”

“No!” Haechan said almost immediately at the same time coming out from the bathroom stall he’s into which caught Jaemin off-guard for a second. “Please Jaem, we already talked about this.” Haechan said with a pleading eyes.

Jaemin could only scratch his head in frustration before muttering a “I get it” two times. After exhaling a deep breath he didn’t know he’s been holding into, he turned to Haechan with semi-worried and frustrated look. “Are you ready to go now?” It’s not meant to say he’s frustrated, in fact, Haechan could see that Jaemin is purely worried about him which made him smile.

“Yes, let’s go.”

~

They barely got five minutes left before class starts and due to this, they did the half-walk-half-run towards the gym lockers since they still need to change to their P.E uniforms.

Opening the door to the room where their gym locker were assigned, Haechan was greeted with a sigh he never expected once in his life. Followed by Jaemin of course.

Jaemin was expecting the room to be half-empty, assuming that their classmates would have gone to the gym already but only half of his assumption was ought to be true. The room was indeed empty from B students but instead, it was crowded with no other than Elites.

“Oh great,” he could hear Haechan muttering under his breath.

The Elites were looking at their way, some with wide eyes, some with smirk on their faces which Haechan would gladly want to wipe off, while some with irritation.

They stood there for almost like a minute and if it wasn’t for Jaemin’s hatred for ‘late’, he wouldn’t bend his right knee, bending Haechan’s one knee in the process. “Go, we’re late.”

Haechan was about to fully enter his whole body into the room when a guy with a cantaloupe colored hair blocked his way.

“You can’t enter the room,” the guy said furiously.

Haechan only rolled his eyes shoving both of his hands in front of the guy’s chest to push him away. The guy indeed stumbled from the slight force but was quick to grab Haechan’s wrist, not allowing him to further enter the room.

“Dude, fuck off, we only have less than ten minutes before our class starts and we surely don’t want to waste it on someone like you.” Haechan hissed, successfully getting his wrist out from the guy’s grip.

“Yah! Weren’t you given twenty minutes break? You should have used that time to change!” A guy whom Haechan recognised as Chenle complained.

“Thirty, thirty minutes break and it’s not for you to decide when I will use my breaks.” Haechan corrected as he looked for his locker which was number six. Jaemin on the other hand, remained silent as he trudged towards his locker which was number three.

“No! Don’t you know that it’s a rule that the last ten minutes of your break should be given to us for privacy?” Chenle exclaimed loudly, almost yelling.

Haechan is fully aware that no such rule exist and the elites were the ones to come up with that ‘stupid’ claim, thinking so highly of themselves. So not giving any damn, he just gave Chenle his ‘i-don’t-give-a-fuck’ look before proceeding to open his now found locker. He could hear Chenle murmuring insults towards him but he could only smirk in response as if he’s thankful for the attention he’s getting.

The elites did not said anything further which is a sort of solace for Jaemin;s part, not even minding the fact that the guy beside him is the guy who Haechan despised the most. Jaemin still don’t know Mark quite well but he was slightly amused to the fact that Mark remained quite in the whole drama. He always thought that Mark would be the first person to attack Haechan as much as possible but seems like he’s wrong.

Jaemin is not conscious. He’s someone who doesn’t really care showing his body as long as it’s necessary and in a private place. Not that he think a room with a bunch of strangers is something private but he doesn’t really have a choice now, does he? Thankfully, Haechan reminded him to wear cycling shorts this morning which save himself from fully exposing his bare body.

He was about to put on his P.E shirt when Haechan suddenly went beside him, whispering something on his ear, leaving him top naked for a few seconds. He was too engrossed on what Haechan’s telling him, not noticing how physically close they were and the eyes that were staring at them.

After when Haechan succeeded in giving his message, he stepped back from Jaemin to see the latter’s reaction or answer.

Jaemin gave Haechan an incredulous look for a second which only earned him a sheepish grin from the red haired. “So what do you want me to do?” There was a hint of impatience on his voice but it seems like Haechan could read him too well and knows that he’s not feeling any amount of anger.

Haechan replied a cute ‘hehe’ sound before dropping his suggestion. “Let’s wait for everyone to get out.”

“Dude no, let me just cover y-“ he wasn’t able to finish his remark when Haechan quickly placed his palm on Jaemin’s mouth with panic flickering on both of his eyes. He could almost hear Heachan’s orbs screaming ‘please don’t say it’

“Shhh, you’re making it obvious,” Haechan hissed in almost like a whisper but Jaemin doubt Mark couldn’t hear it even if he wasn’t eavesdropping. Also, if Jaemin was the one watching Haechan right now, it’s Haechan who’s making it obvious that he’s hiding something.

Jaemin was about to retort when a familiar figure went near them, near Mark specifically, and made a dramatic gasp which caught both Jaemin and Haechan’s attention.

“What the fuck happened to your back?!” At least the question didn’t come out too loud for each of the students in the room to hear but a tone of shock and worry could be hinted.

Mark gave Jeno a curt look before turning his gaze once again to his locker, pulling out his P.E shirt in the process. “Nothing.”

It’s not that both Jaemin and Haechan care but it was displayed right in front of them. Mark’s pale skin on his back was cover with scratches and are those hand prints? It wasn’t clear but it was red enough and both of them could make them out like fingers were pressed deeply into Mark’s going into different directions.

Mark, not noticing that both B students were observing his back, quickly wore his shirt and slammed his locker close enough for other students to flinch in surprise.

Both Jaemin and Haechan shared a look before Haechan shrugged his shoulders, implying that he doesn’t care and was about to speak to Jaemin again before Jeno beat him to it.

An addition to the tense atmosphere they’re in right now is the fact that Jaemin realised how Jeno is back to his usual cold aura. It’s not like he cares since he legibly told the guy to stay away from him but the thought that he guy if acting like nothing happened in the dormitory’s kitchen yesterday was giving him some sort of awkwardness but since he’s good at putting up a dead-face, he shrugged the feeling and focus on his red-hair friend.

“Chan, five minute left,” Jaemin impatiently said as he ushered Haechan to just change his bottom in the corner facing the wall and he’ll be standing in front of him to cover his back. Haechan doesn’t have any choice but to comply to Jaemin’s suggestion since they’re practically running out of time and he can’t be a princess right now.

While Haechan is still struggling to change his pants, he could hear Mark and Jeno having some conversation and he wasn’t supposed to eavesdrop but a certain topic catches his attention.

“Jeno you should make me that lasagna again, the one you brought me this morning.” They heard Mark said while slipping on his green Nike shoes.

“Who said I was the one who made them?” Jeno anwered, leaning his body to Mark’s locker. Mark then turned his eyes towards the bored-looking guy and gave him questionable stare. “I just found it yesterday at the kitchen sitting peacefully at the center of the table and it was still hot so I packed it.”

“Dude, what the fuck?”

“What? Besides I was supposed to eat that but given how miserable you look like this morning, I had to be an angel and gave it to you.” Jeno deadpanned but not in a rude way, simply making a point that he didn’t purposely want to poison his friend, in case that was what Mark is thinking right now.

Mark closed his eyes at that, as if trying to compose himself from lashing out. “It could be a trap Jeno,” he said calmly but one could hear the venom behind those words. “I should go to the doctor after this.”

Jeno rolled his eyes thinking his friend is being over dramatic about a piece of lasagne which he indirectly claimed to be delicious just a few seconds ago. “Dude, you ate it this morning and nothing has happened until now so calm your brain.”

“Still, prevention is better than cure.”

Haechan, hearing the whole conversation, froze up on his spot like he saw someone getting hit by a truck. Jaemin, noticing Haechan’s unresponsive body, slightly nudged Haechan’s shoulder and gave him a worried look. “You alright?”

“Uh-uh yeah,” Haechan answered hesitantly which earned him a questioning look from his blonde friend. “Uh, I’ll tell you later,” he managed to voice out so Jaemin only nodded his head in response.

Elites were slowly getting out of the room until only the four of them were left since Mark was still preparing himself for their class while Jeno was waiting for Mark. On the other side, Haechan is still going on into his shoes while Jaemin giving him some sort of countdown.

After a few more seconds, Mark announced himself ‘done’ and Jeno nodded then went outside of the room first. Just before Mark could follow Jeno, he glanced at Haechan who was not free from the corner and muttered a ‘bitch’ before heading out, not giving Haechan a chance to make a comeback.

“What the fuck is wrong with that nerd,” Haechan complained right after Mark shut the door of their locker room, leaving the duo inside. He proceeded to take off his clothes and now Jaemin could see it.

Love bites, love marks, bruises, deformed circles colored in a mix of black and gray. ‘Just how much was the guy so rough to Haechan?’ He wants to say many things like how Haechan could still say it’s not rape when he was treated like this, like how that guy was only there for sex and not for love. But he chose to keep quite since he knows he couldn’t dictate what Haechan feels and it would probably hurt the red haired.

“I’m good, let’s go.” Jaemin only nodded his head before heading out with Haechan following behind.

~

They were almost five minutes late when they arrived at the mini gym and thankfully, their instructor or P.E. teacher isn’t there yet so they still have time to move freely and breathe a relaxing amount of air before hell starts again.

Both of them could see their classmates from their morning class, sitting together on the right side of the bleachers while on the left side is where the Elites were seated together. There wasn’t really enough space to divide the two groups and only the difference of color in their P.E uniforms could help one distinguish the classes.

They were still halfway across the bleachers when they heard a girly sharp voice yelling out there name. 

“Jaeminieee! Haechanieee!” Hyewon held out both of her arms in the air, waving at their direction. However, after that short display of action, she suddenly splinted towards them and to Jaemin’s shock, she suddenly hugged his left arm and pushed her body against it. Jaemin isn’t really fond of any display of affection and he found the situation quiet awkward, doubting whether Hyewon is just being overly friendly or she’s seeking some attention by acting cute.

It seems like Haechan noticed Jaemin tensing up but instead of helping his friend to get out of the awkward state, he only patted Jaemin’s shoulder with his palm and whispered a small “just treat her like a little sister” then chuckled. In the end, Jaemin doesn’t have a choice but just to display a small smile towards the girl who’s clinging into him like a sloth at the moment.

Arriving at the bleachers, Jisu stood up and placed both of her fist in her waist as she looked like she’s about to scold Hyewon which became true. “Yah yah yah! Hyewon ssi, you can’t just do that! Look at how uncomfortable Jaemin ssi is!”

Hyewon then pouted before releasing Jaemin’s arms, making him finally release the amount of air he didn’t know he’s been trying to hold.

“Dude, what happened to your face?” Haechan immediately asked when his eyes landed on Beomgyu who has a fresh scar just above his right eyebrow.

“Someone decided to show off his boxing skill in the cafeteria,” Jisu answered for him as she rolled her eyes and went back to seat. “I don’t know if we have the same Chemistry schedule but if we do, you probably noticed we weren’t there.”

Haechan nodded his head before telling them that Engr. Kim already told them what happened in the cafeteria.

“Well that’s not the whole story apparently,” Jisu comenetd after Haechan was done explaining to them what Engr. Kim told the class and Haechan could obviously see that she’s right since Ms. Taeyeon didn’t told them anything about one of his classmates also getting hurt.

“That giant elite over there,” Dino secretly pointed to a tan guy who was busy stretching his limbs, “whose name is Lucas, tripped me in the cafeteria though he apologised and said it was an accident, however we didn’t buy it at first and hoped that he would apologise for the second time before finally letting it go but he suddenly went impatient and told us we don’t deserve an apology in the first place so Beomgyu over here decided to punch him on the face.”

Haechan then looked at Beomgyu for a second before going back to Dino, waiting for the latter to continue. “So apparently, his boyfriend suddenly went berserk and slapped Beomgyu harshly in return.”

“More like he scratched my face!” Beomgyu said defensively. “Look at this scar, does it look like it came from a slap to you?” He said, pouting his lips cutely like a little kid who got bullied.

“Now now, slap or scratch, it doesn’t matter, both will hurt anyways.” Jisu said giving him a gleeful look.

“So does that mean they also get a punishment?” Haechan wonders, since Ms. Kim didn’t told them anything about the elites going to the counsellor’s office, in fact, she did specified that only the B students are getting the punishment.

When that question left his mouth, that’s when he heard Beomgyu heaving a small sigh, sounding so dejected. “No, since I hit first, they said that the slap was some sort of defense.” He then lifted his index finger towards the scar on his face. It was small but dots of red are still visible in the area and from Haechan’s experience when he accidentally scratch himself, small or big, it still leaves a stingy sensation in the skin if left untreated.

Not thinking before acting, Haechan open his backpack and took out a piece of band aid before sitting beside Beomgyu. “Here, let me place this on your scar.” He suddenly moved his face closer towards the hurting lad, trying to attach the band aid correctly and neatly on the scar. He didn’t realise Beomgyu freezing up on his position and was completely unaware of the stares around him as he displayed the small affection in front of everyone in the class.

Jaemin, on the other hand, was the only one who wasn’t bothered by Haechan’s rash actions but noticing the sudden solace in the area, he caught almost everyone staring at Haechan and Beomgyu, including some of the Elite students. The only thing that annoys him is the fact that he couldn’t read the mind of the people and he’s almost desperate to know why they were looking at the duo like that, more like on his friend. So instead, he turned his gaze towards Haechan and observed him instead but only one thing went into his mind.

_Haechan is beautiful._

This might be funny coming from him but since Haechan is perfectly not his type but he’s not blind. He doesn’t deny beauty when it’s right in front of him.

How his scarlet hair perfectly shone above the honey color that coats his skin. How his long and slender fingers where softly treating Beomgyu’s scar with vulnerability. How his long lashes flickers on his eyes that are staring intently on the small red mark in front of him. And it seems like not only Jaemin noticed this. He could see Beomgyu’s eyes lost in Haechan’s beautiful soul and how a small amount of blush is slowly creeping up in his cheeks.

And now he’s sure, he’s pretty sure that among the emotions the people staring at the duo are having right now. One of them is envy. They envy that a beautiful person like Haechan was being affectionate towards Beomgyu and they’re too afraid to admit it to themselves.

However, Jaemin, upon realizing this sight, could only want to put his palms on his face in frustration and grab Haechan away from the attention he put himself into and make him realise how he’s putting himself on danger and how me must be careful towards his actions. He doesn’t like Haechan in any romantic ways but he do care for the guy like his own brother. Haechan might be older than him in two months but the guy could be pretty clueless among the hungry stares he’s been unintentionally getting.

“There, all done! You should clean it after class though,” Haechan then smiled at Beomgyu, still unaware of his surroundings but thankfully, Jaemin was quick to act and break everyone’s attention.

“Hey Chan, come here for a moment, Ms. Bae sent me a text.” It wasn’t really a lie since he actually received a message from Ms. Bae when they were still in the locker rooms and he wanted to discuss it with Haechan supposedly after class but he thinks this could be the perfect excuse to get Haechan’s attention.

“Oh, really?” Haechan excitedly stood up from the bleachers and followed Jaemin who was walking towards one of the basketball ring, far enough from the others to give themselves privacy.

When they arrived at Jaemin’s target area, he quickly gave his phone to Haechan with it displaying Ms. Bae’s text. Haechan then began reading the message and that’s when Jaemin decided to open the topic.

“Chan, why do you think A students and elite students hate you?”

The question totally caught Haechan off guard which made him glanced up from Jaemin’s phone almost immediately. He paused for a while as if contemplating for an answer before voicing out his opinion. “I told you they hate me because they think I am stupid and doesn’t deserve to be here.”

Jaemin then hummed after Haechan’s reasonable answer but decided to voice out his opinion too. “Don’t you think that’s not the entire reason?”

“What do you mean?” Haechan asked, obviously confused.

“Do you remember what that guy from the café yesterday said?”

“You mean Choi Yeonjun?” Haechan asked and Jaemin nodded almost eagerly.

“I’m not entirely sure okay but you remember how he knows you’ve been eating there every night right? You even told him he’s stalking you.” Jaemin pointed out but Haechan is still lost on what Jaemin is trying to say.

“Can you just get straight to the point? I may be good at Math but I’m not good at cryptics.”

It was only for a swift moment, how Jaemin’s eyes suddenly widened upon hearing Haechan’s statement but he managed to compose himself quickly, fast enough for Haechan not to catch his reaction. He then cleared his throat, trying to form a concrete explanation for the lad but realizing that he doesn’t have enough evidence to prove his point, he exhaled a huge amount of air and just gave his friend a warning instead. “Don’t be too kind and don’t let your guards down, not even to me.”

Haechan just stood there, trying to sink what Jaemin just told him and after repeating the same statement on his head for a few times, he might still not really get what Jaemin is trying to say but he did realize that he’s been letting his guard down too much and he’s completely knowledgeable of that fact that doing that could cause him harm in the future so he might just stick to that realization for now.

Thirty minutes have already passed and their instructor is yet to arrive. Jaemin was currently sitting at the most top corner part of part of the bleachers, reading the small pocket book he have, while Haechan was lying his whole body down on the four extra chairs just beside him, miraculously finding comfort on the high density polyethylene material. The red hair male have his eyes closed for more than ten minutes now which practically means he must have went dozed off, probably got tired of waiting.

It’s funny, he thinks. How he just told Haechan a few minutes ago not to let his guard down even when he’s with him but here he is right now, completely unconscious and down-guarded. At first, he was against with the thought of Haechan sleeping in the gym but the older male reasoned out that he’s tired and the bottom part of his body is still aching which left him no choice but to let him be and be his guard.

People might find it weird how easy for both of them to just click, in fact, he finds it weird himself too since he never really had a friend before except for that kid he met at the hospital seven years ago whom he doesn’t even recognise the face. After his small chat with Haechan regarding what happened earlier, Jisu went straight to him and asked him what his relationship with Haechan is while the others were behind her, waiting for his answer. Instead of him anwering the question, he called Haechan and let him answer the question instead.

“Nah, he’s just a brother to me,”

They were all skeptical at first but later believed them, thinking they don’t have any reason to hide.

After what seems like forever, the main door of the small gym they’re currently in slammed open, revealing a tall, dusky skinned male who was outright buff, wearing only a white tank top paired with a black jogging pants and his obviously branded shoes making auscultatory sound as its sole rubs against the wooden floor.

“Line up! Line up!” He was still on his way towards them when he made the demand, making everyone wake up from their relaxing state, replaced with tense and speed.

“Chan, wake up, teacher’s here,” Haechan immediately sat up but before he could register what’s happening, Jaemin held his hand and dragged both of them together in the B student’s line. Since it’s obvious their class aren’t acquainted with the elites, two rows were formed, one row where the elites lined up vertically and the other line for their class.

Their instructor then stood in front of them and ran his eyes over the students, observing each and every one from head to toe which was very intimidating for some of them.

He then cleared his throat before clapping both of his palms once, producing a loud clapping sound which echoed in the entire gym. “Alright, I am Jung Yunho and I will be your P.E instructor for the rest of the semester. All of you might be wondering why another class is here so to answer that, since there are only a total of twenty freshmen elites this school year, they will be mixed up with the other twenty B students for this class since there’s really no difference in how Physical Education is taught to both class. Now, before anything else, I want all of you to run a few laps around the gym in a clockwise rotation and no one’s allowed to stop until I say so, go!” Everything was happening so fast and if it wasn’t for his loud, booming voice, no one would be able to process the information quickly. Mr. Jung didn’t even bother giving anyone a chance to ask a question and just blew the whistle which was hanging loosely around his neck.

After twenty minutes of running around the area, Mr. Jung’s voice called everyone to stop and to get back on the line. They were now all starting to sweat and were panting heavily, like their whole body were suddenly thrown into a tub of ice, not giving them enough time to react and prepare themselves for the exhausting activity.

“Now, now, no need to be so over dramatic, that’s just twenty minutes of jog,” he said as he looked at the students with a grin as if he’s enjoying looking at the agony in their faces. He then carefully observed the students once again and when his eyes landed on Haechan, his grin was suddenly erased.

“You, red hair!” He called out which causes everyone’s attention to go to Haechan. “Are you injured?”

Thankfully, Haechan was quick to realise that he’s the only one in the class who have his hair dyed in red so he was also quick to realise that the teacher is talking to him. “No sir!”

“Go to the clinic,” it came out purely a demand, like it doesn’t need any further debate, questions nor excuse. However, Haechan was stubborn to he remained on his spot.

“I can’t and I won’t sir,” Haechan hung his head down low, trying to avoid eye-locking with their teacher, afraid that he might see right through him.

“Alright then, everyone do some stretching and some basic exercise. Pair yourselves with the opposite class, you red hair come here.” Mr. Jung then turned around, walking towards a big metallic-like cabinet and opened them revealing an unassembled punching bag. He then dragged the material outside the cabinet and when he saw the students still standing in the line feeling awkward, he ran his fingers on his hair and yelled at them. “Didn’t you hear me? What are you guys waiting for?”

The students then immediately scrambled on their feet and awkwardly face their opposite class, waiting for someone to make a move or get a pair. Jaemin then gave Haechan a worried look before nodding his head, ushering him to follow Mr. Jung. Haechan nodded back before he went to Mr. Jung’s side and helped him assembling the bag.

Jaemin could only stare at Haechan’s back and he couldn’t help but feel some sort of uneasiness. He’s pretty sure that Mr. Jung is planning something to Haechan since he has that smug look on his eyes but before he could worry further, a voice cut off his thoughts, making him turn his attention to their activity.

“Alright, let’s not waste any more time, just pair up with the one who have the same column as you,” Jeno, who was at the first column, said loudly, enough for the people on the other line to hear.

Jaemin then glanced on the side opposite to his and was met with a guy who was already staring at him with a small smile on his face. However, Jaemin is already used to this stuff, use to seeing what is true and what isn’t and this one, he’s pretty sure, this smile isn’t true.

Not at all.

“Hello, Na Jaemin, isn’t it?” the guy said as he extended his arm in front of Jaemin, initiating a handshake. Jaemin, like what any other polite people would do, returned the gesture and replied a small “yeah”.

The man then chuckled and suddenly hit his shoulders slowly. “Relax, I don’t bite. Name’s Junkyu by the way.”

Jaemin doesn’t like how the Junkyu guy is being over friendly towards him and Jaemin being Jaemin, did not let it pass and addressed it immediately.

“I don’t want to be rude but please don’t do that and let’s just start the activity immediately.” Jaemin said as he kept his blank stare, not really trying to intimidate someone since that’s just how his eyes normally are. He expected Junkyu to at least step backwards to respect what he just said but to his surprise, the other guy just laughed at him.

“You’re very funny but alright, alright, let’s do this.”

Both of them first started off with some basic stretching, counting from one to sixteen before changing into another position. For Jaemin, things like this is almost like a hobby to him since it was a need for him to stretch and exercise at least four times a week. However, he wasn’t advised to overdo it as well since it might lead to complications.

All of them were in the middle of doing their task when Mr. Jung’s voice echoed once again in the entire place.

“One hundred side kick to your right and one hundred side kick to your left, you’re not allowed to do breaks and if you can’t do it anymore, stop and go to the clinic.” He did not yell but his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

Jaemin could only look at Haechan with worry, knowing about Haechan’s current state. Part of him hopes that Haechan would just give it up and just go to the clinic since that’s what he wanted for his friend to do in the first place, however, that’s Haechan’s body and only Haechan has the right to control it. Also, he know how stubborn the older lad is so just like what he assumed, Haechan did not waste any second and started kicking the punching bag which is now fully hanged on a chain.

He just hopes that his friend won’t start bleeding again.

Everyone, on the other hand, stopped on their tracks and watched the intense scene going on in front of them but thankfully, Mr. Jung realised this and glared at them which made them continue their task.

Almost half an hour have passed and everyone was now sweating profusely. A lot of groans and sounds of exhaustion paralleled into the walls of the gym but Mr. Jung didn’t give them any glance as his attention was solely focused on the red hair who was now beyond tired in kicking the punching bag.

Haechan already managed to finish the hundred kicks on his right foot and is already half way in finishing the other side. He could feel the his thighs on the verge of giving up and his hole aching so much from the stretch he’s been getting from the kicking, however, his will is stronger than the physical exhaustion he felt so screaming a loud exhale from the top of his lungs, he continued kicking the bag with much force.

“Will your friend be okay?” Junkyu faced Jaemin as they were doing a planking exercise which went on for quite a while now. Jaemin was already feeling some sort of tightness on his chest but and breathing normally is already getting harder to achieve.

“He will be,” he answered curtly before turning his head down, facing the floor.

After a few more minutes, everyone heard Haechan giving out a loud sigh of relief, signalling that he accomplished the task that was given to him, before dropping his almost-dead-like body into the cold wooden floor of the gym.

“Seven minutes rest and you join them with the stretching and exercise,” Mr. Jung said before going to his table. Not giving the other students some attention.

Haechan only closed his eyes and did not bother answering Mr. Jung. He was beyond tired right now and hearing what Mr. Jung said pisses him off. ‘I have already stretched two hundred times, how the hell does he expect me to do some more?!’ he complained mentally. He could feel his legs shaking uncontrollably and he doubts he could still stand with his own two feet so instead of bringing himself some water, he decided to just spend the seven minutes lying down, resting his legs.

“Wow, he really did it.” Junkyu said as he looked at the lying lad in front of the class

Jaemin then looked at Haechan and a small smile crawled into his mouth. He might be frustrated of how Haechan could be very hard-headed but the relief he is feeling is much greater than that frustration. He really salutes Haechan’s strong will of mind.

~

It was until five minutes left until class ends when Mr. Jung asked everyone to go back to their lines. Haechan, who did some exercise with one of the elites who didn’t have a partner, looked like a dying sloth since he was basically limping in his every movement and his face couldn’t almost be drawn.

“Alright class, that’s basically it for today. Next week, I’ll be giving you hand outs about the unnecessary lessons you need to be aware of and expect to do the same thing you did today but harder.” Mr. Jung announced with his voice booming in the entire gym. After the short speech, he dismissed the class, again, not giving anyone a chance to ask some questions.

“He’s too direct,” Haechan commented with stress in his voice, looking at Mr. Jung’s back who was walking towards the exit.

Jaemin nodded his head as a response then as he looked around, he realised that his classmates are still in the gym, specifically in the bleachers, lying their exhausted body into the hard seats. Both Haechan and him then walked towards them, asking them why are they still nor changing.

“Nah, we were thrown out from the locker room before class started and they told us it’s a rule that we should give them time to change first before we change.” Dino said, who was currently fixing the bandana on his head.

“And you actually believe them?” Haechan asked with mock and surprise, reminded of what greeted him when he entered the said room for the first time.

“Nah, but we had our first warning today, we can’t afford to get a second.” Again it’s unfair, but he as a point. It seems like the school won’t be favouring the B students anytime soon.

Haechan then scoffed at the thought but just let it go, also not wanting to cause any more trouble. Preventing is better than cure after all.

Minutes had passed when Beomgyu announced to them that the locker room is now clear and without any more thoughts, Jaemin and Haechan went straight ahead to the shower room which was just attached as a small extension in the locker room. In just less than ten minutes, they were already in their normal school uniform, trying to speed up things so they won’t be late in their first day as working students.

They still have a few minutes left before their work schedules starts but both of them decided to just go to the Fine Arts department earlier so that they’d have more time to figure things out before the first class starts.

~

“Jaemin and Haechan right?” A lady who was way shorter that Haechan and Jaemin greeted them the moment they entered the department. Despite her height, she was very gorgeous and looked so young for her 30’s and her voice is so thin and sharp which made her sound like a teenager in good way. Her facial expression gives off a mix of kindness and firmness, however, her charming smile was enough for both young lad to ease up.

“I’ll be needing you guys to assist me during class. For the first half of the period, I’ll be deciding the voice types of each students using the piano and I need one of you beside me to write their names and their types. Haechan can you do that?” she managed to ask even though it was obvious that she won’t take a no for an answer.

Haechan then nodded and smiled which made Mrs. Jung turn her lips upwards, showing a satisfied smile. “Alright, Jaemin, I need you list all the instruments each students play, I’ll let them come to you after the voice test.”

“Don’t we need to let them play it first?” Jaemin ask softly, not wanting to let Mrs. Jung thinks that he questions her decisions.

“Well if they lie, they fail,” Mrs. Jung said with a smile but Jaemin could hear the venom behind the words. “For the remaining half, you guys can return to the department. I’ll be having my lectures on that time about dancing,”

Both young men nodded their heads in understanding, quiet thankful that they won’t need to expose themselves to a number of students that might hate them.

~

But then again, Haechan thinks the heavens hate him.

Mrs. Jung and Jaemin were still on the department, arranging the papers needed for today’s class while Mrs. Jung told him to go to the music room first where the class will be held and asked him to test the piano of it’ working right.

To his dismay, the moment he opened the glass door of the said room, uncountable heads turned into his direction and their eyes were staring at him intently as if he’s some kind of intruder. Normally, he would walk across the room with confidence as if it was a runaway meant for him but the pain in his ass is not helping. In fact, it never did anything good to him the moment he woke up.

They were already informed that this class would be made up with As and elites but seeing Mark and his group of friends seated in the cozy chairs in the said room is a total nightmare.

Without any other choice, he just looked straight ahead as he walked towards the piano – not to mention, he has to walk in the center since it’s the only option he has – dragging his aching ass with abundance of effort and strength. He could feel it, he could feel bloody dark orbs, as how he described it, staring at him as if he was some disgusting prey but he tried his best to shake it all off and just focus on his task.

Arriving at the desired destination, he sat slowly into the piano bench and opened the cover before hitting one of the keys. The sound of the piano always gives him some sort of peace and protection that it makes him want to close his eyes and smile at the soft tune it’s giving even if it’s just a single key. Luckily, he was able to catch himself before acting on the habit, preventing him to look stupid in front of the people he hates – who hates him.

He was about to start pressing the keys in front of him when an unwelcomed voice ringed into his ear, calling out his name. The voice is too familiar for Haechan’s liking that he doesn’t need to look up to know who the intruder is.

“Haechaniee! Good to see you,” the guy half-sang, curling a playful-smirk in his mouth which doesn’t look good, at all, at least to Haechan.

Haechan decided to ignore the guy, who was now leaning his body unto the sturdy grand piano, still looking at Haechan playfully. “Come on, don’t ignore me Haechaniee.”

Knowing that the guy won’t leave him alone soon, he forced a smile and finally looked up to meet the intruder’s gaze.

‘The universe really hates me,’ he thoughts.

‘Then again, fuck you universe.’

“What do you want Donghyuck?”

Donghyuck’s smirk becomes impossibly wider before pressing a finger into a key of the piano. “Took you so long, I though you became deaf.”

“I really don’t have time for conversations right now, Mrs. Jung will be here any minute now and I need to test this piano before she arrives.” Haechan explained quietly, looking down into keys again like he’s just talking to himself.

“Wait, did you apply as a working student,” Donghyuck asked in disbelief, “the almighty Haechan is a working student?!” he gasped dramatically, enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Haechan could only roll his eyes in annoyance, not bothering to make it less obvious that the guy in front of him is irritating. “Look, why don’t you just go over to your crush, Mark Lee wasn’t it? I’m sure he would love to give you attention. I mean, who ignores the almighty Donghyuck?” Haechan spats back, emphasizing the ‘Donghyuck’ for some reason, earning him a mocking scoff.

“He’ll be my boyfriend soon,”

“Yeah yeah, sure, whatever,” Haechan answered with disinterest, trying to navigate his focus unto the keys in front of him instead.

Thankfully, Donghyuck left shortly after their unfriendly conversation, making him heave a big sigh in relief like he just got out from suffocation.

Shortly after he just finished testing the piano, Mrs. Jung came inside the room with Jaemin following behind her, holding some pile of papers on the top of his arms. Haechan quickly went to Jaemin’s side and grabbed half of the papers to help the blonde.

The class went smoothly as expected. Donghyuck didn’t tried to bother Haechan again and just stuck to Mark’s side all throughout the session. The students in the class were also amusingly well-behaved but maybe it has something to do with Mrs. Jung’s scary aura surrounding her or maybe they were just tired from all their classes. Nevertheless, it’s a big relief for Jaemin and Haechan’s side.

It was already time for Mrs. Jung’s lecture when both Haechan and Jaemin decided to go back to the department with loads of papers on their arms. Both lads were internally happy knowing that their first day as working students turned out to be great and for sure, they left a good impression. Ms. Bae informed them that they would be getting stars weekly to pay off their hard work but the amount of stars would depend on how Mrs. Jung grade their effort and both of them are quiet sure that they met the desired expectations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really apologize for the late update. Holidays got the best of me.


	5. End To Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What if you find your soulmate at the wrong time?”  
> -Lauren Kate, Passion

|9,809|

Monday ends so fast the moment Jaemin and Haechan entered their room after their work in the Fine Arts department. Maybe that was caused by the exhaustion they felt that by the time Jaemin opened both of his eyes, it was already the next day – five in the morning. Not wasting any seconds, he quickly dashed off towards the bathroom to take a quick shower before going to the kitchen to keep the promise he made with Haechan which is cooking for them. Luckily, they still have some spare ingredients from Sunday that he was able to make pancakes for breakfast and a pack lunch which contains beef pepper rice for their lunch.

He was about to leave the kitchen premises when the red hair lad entered the said room with dark circles under his eyes, hair still wet from shower and new set of neatly fresh uniform hugging his body.

“Morning,” Haechan greeted tiredly, rubbing his eye with his fist. He trudged towards an empty seat, not that the other chairs are occupied since they’re both alone in the kitchen, waiting patiently for Jaemin to serve the meal.

Jaemin greeted back with a smile before placing the dish on the table, along with the syrup he somehow managed to find in the fridge. “I’m not really sure if we can use this but it was placed in the ‘free’ section so I assume we can.

Haechan then explained to him that the school will always provide free stuff in the dormitory and it depend whether one will use it or even steal it.

Jaemin only nodded in response and both lad ate their breakfast in solace. The whole time, they were both quiet except for a second or two when Haechan complimented Jaemin’s cooking ability but other than that, both of ate quietly, admiring the peace of the morning. After both males finished their meal, they quickly went back to their room and took all necessary things needed for today’s classes.

~

Their first class for the day was Literature which was quiet boring in Jaemin’s perspective. He might look uninterested in all the classes the school offers but Literature was beyond dull for him recognizing who William Shakespeare is, is enough. 

He fought with slumber all throughout the entire hour and a half and if it wasn’t for Ms. Seohyun’s scrunching nose the moment her eyes landed on the sleeping red haired male beside him, he would be dozing off by now.

He could only breathe in relief the moment the clock stroke at nine, meaning Literature class is done, and he immediately poked Haechan’s folded arm to wake him up. It would be a lie if he’ll say he was not expecting Ms. Seohyun to call Haechan out since she was obviously looking at the male with daggers the entire lecture so he was surprised that the said woman did not bother to at least give his friend a warning, not that he wants Haechan to get in trouble anyways.

Their second class was Psychology which was quiet an interesting topic not just for Jaemin but also for Haechan since it was a first that his friend did not doze off on a lecture. Haechan was quiet amusing to look at the entire period, with his eyes solely focused on Mr. Heechul, only breaking contact when he has something to write on the notebook neatly opened in his desk. Jaemin on the other hand, did not bother taking any notes and just had to listen to the information their professor was giving.

Just like some of their classes yesterday, Mr. Kim gave a pop quiz and to Jaemin’s surprise, Haechan started dozing off the moment the test sheet was given to him, not even bothering to read what was written on the sheet. If Jaemin was to judge, he’s pretty sure that Haechan is not sleepy, he’s tired yes but he could see Haechan forcing himself to close his eyes to meet slumber and that’s something he’s still yet to understand about his friend.

‘Is it because he’s confident that he couldn’t answer? Is it because he’s too lazy to answer?’ Those questions ran on Jaemin’s head but at the same time, he feels like those thoughts aren’t right. He’s pretty sure that Haechan learned something from the lecture.

_‘Or maybe it’s the other way around?’_

Shrugging off the thought, he turned his focus on his own test sheet and decided to answer half of the questions before putting his pen down.

Their third class is as boring as their first class. History.

Sometimes, Jaemin wondered why they bothered teaching these classes in supposedly-unique-college. These subjects should be left and should have stayed in high school – as what Jaemin thinks.

Oh wait no, even their professor Mr. Oh thinks so too, saying History is fun and all but should have stayed away in college. Whether we admit it or not, minors like History only adds the burden on students’ back which were already loaded in majors.

Thankfully, Mr. Oh was kind enough to not give them any ambush test but instead, gave them an assignment which is an essay about what they know about World War I.

Again, Haechan dozed off the entire period and Jaemin begins to wonder if Haechan cares about passing. He’s lazy himself but as much as he love to lose interest – which he didn’t have in the first place, in the lecture in front of him, he can’t afford to risk failing. He’s completely aware that listening isn’t the basis for passing but sometimes, professors are devils in disguise and fail those students who don’t give them respect, like sleeping in class, so he can’t afford to risk it. Not at all.

~  
  


“Time goes by so fast today,” Haechan said while yawning, walking towards the cafeteria together with Jaemin who rolled his eyes at the statement.

“If you won’t sleep on every class, you might feel every millisecond in every hour.”

Haechan let out a small ‘tsk’ before opening his mouth to semi-defend himself. “What can I do, classes are boring,”

“Except for Psychology,” Jaemin commented after remembering how it was the only class that seems to steal Haechan’s attention from sleep.

Hearing Jaemin’s reply, Haechan looked at him with an approving grin splattered on his mouth, “except for Psychology.”

Both lads arrived at the cafeteria and this time, they decided to sit at the most corner part of the said place, which was vacant at the moment.

Arriving at the location, Jaemin proceeded to take out the pack lunch he prepared from his backpack and placed the other box in front of Haechan to which the red haired lad immediately opened with invisible spark on his eyes.

“Damn, this smells so good.”

Jaemin smiled at his friend’s reaction, encouraging the lad to take a bite which Haechan immediately complied.

“Oh my god, five stars!” Haechan then gave Jaemin a big thumbs up before taking another bite. Jaemin then excused himself for a moment to get coffee since he thinks he wouldn’t be able to survive a day without caffeine.

After getting himself a cup of coffee, he then walk again towards his and Haechan’s shared table and to his surprise, Haechan wasn’t alone.

Beomgyu was now sitting beside Haechan but what surprised Jaemin the most was the fact that Haechan is feeding Beomgyu with the beef pepper rice he made. Jaemin then looked at the surrounding and his hunch was right.

A lot of students were looking at the pair, their eyes clouded with negative emotions.

‘Haechan doesn’t really get it, does he?’ Jaemin thought, shaking his head in disapproval. Without any more thoughts, he continued his way until he reached their table.

“Hey Beomgyu,” Jaemin greeted with a small nod.

Beomgyu was trying to swallow the food that was stuffed in his mouth before greeting Jaemin back with a pleasant smile. A smile which thankfully doesn’t have any secret behind it, and that’s of course, from Jaemin’s judgement.

“Haechan told me you cooked this, woah! It’s good Jaemin!” Beomgyu complimented before opening his mouth once again, signalling Haechan to feed him more. Jaemin then looked at Haechan to see his reaction but to his dismay, Haechan giggled at the latter and was about to dig his spoon into the food but before it could reach anywhere near Beomgyu’s mouth, Jaemin quickly pushed his own box into Beomgyu’s front table.

“Here, we could share, I’m not really that hungry but Haechan here is a pig, in fact, that one box isn’t enough for him,” Jaemin joked which Haechan took no offense of and just scoffed before bringing the spoon into his own mouth instead.

Beomgyu joyfully accepted Jaemin’s offer, quickly getting the fork from the lid before digging it into the food.

It took them a few minutes to finish everything, making random conversations about that and this, making themselves comfortable in the big cafeteria with Jamein’s best quality dish.

Before they could take their leave, Haechan saw Jaemin taking out ‘that vial’ again, popping a single white pill into his mouth before chugging a glass of water.

“Jaem, what are those?”

“Vitamins,” Jaemin answered, almost immediately as if he already prepared that answer beforehand. 

Haechan looked at him suspiciously, not quiet believing the blonde’s answer. As if on time, Beomgyu excused himself to the bathroom which left the two friends alone. Haechan took this moment to dig for an answer.

A right answer.

“You do know that I’m aware that you’ve been taking them three times a day right?” Haechan stated which is true. From what he recalled from yesterday, Jaemin did took those pills right after breakfast, lunch and dinner and he’s not that stupid to not know that vitamins should only be taken once per day.

His statement seemed to hit something on Jaemin since he could see his friend frozen for a second before returning to his original dead expression.

“The dosage is quiet little for a single tablet that’s why the pharmacist advised me to take them three times a day.” Jaemin explained, not meeting Haechan’s eyes.

Haechan, not fully aware of what’s happening on the medical field, so he could only nod in response. Even though it’s his first time hearing such arrangement for a vitamin, his lack of knowledge forced him to just believe Jaemin’s words. _For now._

When Beomgyu came back from the restroom, the three of them luckily shared the same first afternoon class together so they headed towards the next classroom they’re assigned into.

~  
  


Jaemin and Haechan spent the next five hours, twelve-thirty to give-thirty, on the remaining two minor classes they had which were Economy and Philosophy and one major which was Biology.

The minor classes went on in like a blink on an eye, probably because both lads weren’t interested on both classes, while on their Biology, a pop quiz was given and just like any other quizzes, Jaemin answered only half of the question while Haechan chose to sleep. At this point, Jaemin plans on asking Haechan about passing and failing later on tonight, worried about the possible fruits of Haechan’s ‘intentional or unintentional’ carelessness.

At the end of their last period which was Philosophy, both Jaemin bid their goodbye. Both of them have specialty class for Tuesday and it’s their first time attending class apart from each other. Haechan has his Statistics while Jaemin has his Human Physiology.

~

Jaemin, as how he is, didn’t felt any nervousness building up in his stomach as he trudge his way towards the classroom where his class will be held. He kept his dead eyes displayed, not that it was intentional since that’s how his eyes always look since from what he remembered.

Since the said room was located at the Science building which was a different building from where he had his Philosophy class, he arrived four minutes late which made him curse under his breath, hoping that the professor had not arrive yet.

With luck on his side, he noticed the room was barely occupied and that the professor is yet to arrive. Sighing in relief, he walked towards the furthest seat beside the glass window, not bothering to look at the students who were looking at him with an intent to judge.

Arriving at the spot, he quickly sat down and made a quick stretch on his legs down to his feet, trying to reach the toes with the tip of his finger, not noticing the footsteps that were getting louder and louder on his side.

“Na Jaemin, what a surprise to see you here, are you sure you got the correct room?”

First of all, Jaemin has an OCD personality – not that he has an OCD but he has the tendency to check things a lot more times before making himself sure that what he’s doing is right. Therefore, he’s perfectly sure that he’s in the right room.

Second, for a minute he, he thought luck was on his side, but looking at Jeno’s orbs which were also looking back at his makes him think otherwise. Not that he’s giving Jeno the pleasure to unconsciously ruin his luck but he just think that he has enough stress for the first two days and he doesn’t want more. But then again, he’s not a disrespectful young adult so he gave Jeno as small hum in response.

“Really? Human Physiology? I mean, look around you. You’re the only one who’s wearing a different uniform color,” Jeno stated while taking a seat next to Jaemin, eyes looking around at the room to prove his point.

Jaemin then turned his gaze to the students around him and indeed Jeno was right. He’s the only one wearing a grey polo shirt while majority were wearing white while some are blue. But he shouldn’t really be surprised, after all, Haechan did warned him that this class is one of the hardest specialty and will be occupied mostly by Elites. He even did told him about Jeno might be here according to the poll.

Then again, he really don’t care. No matter who or what students that will be joining this class is not his problem. All he want is to learn something interesting and only this class sparks an interest on his soul.

Well, at least a little.

Not trying to be rude, he just nodded his head, not really looking at Jeno but instead, going into his backpack, taking out small notebook and a pen.

Jeno then cleared his throat, not really liking the fact that Jaemin’s trying to ignore his existence ‘again’ so maybe pushing the button a little bit wouldn’t hurt. “Not that I’m insulting you but do you even know what this subject is about?”

Well that, Jeno thinks, did pushed a button.

Jamein huffed in annoyance, murmuring something under his breath which Jeno couldn’t quiet catch before he looked at the president with his dead look.

“Could you please just mind your own business?”

Jeno then let out a small chuckle, thinking that Jaemin doesn’t really fail to amuse him and the blonde isn’t even trying. “I’m just trying to give you a heads up you know.”

Jaemin then shook his head in response, “No, you are not Mr. Lee, all you’ve been saying for the past few minutes is that I don’t fit in that class.” Jaemin spats in a subtle manner, not that he’s offended but Jeno saying that is not only downgrading him but the rest of the B students as well.

“That,” Jeno said with an emphasis, “is a heads up.” After that, Jeno stood up from the seat and proceeded to the middle part of the room, sitting beside someone whom Jaemin recognized as Lucas’ boyfriend, the same guy who slapped Beomgyu.

As if on cue, their professor arrive, making everyone behave on their seats, shutting their mouth on the process.

“Early evening class, all of you might probably know who I am but just in case, I’m Professor Park. Park Leeteuk and as you already can see, you guys will be stuck with me the entire semester.” He introduced before emitting a dramatic heavy sigh. “Human Physiology is one of the hardest specialty here in Afrókrema Academy and I expect you guys to at least be aware that choosing this specialty is like choosing hell.”

‘He should be encouraging the students, not scarring them,’ Jaemin thought at the back of his head. At the same time, he thinks of how familiar Professor Park is.

‘He must be popular then, might have saw him in TV,’ Jaemin concluded.

“I won’t go easy on you guys, I don’t care no matter which wealthy family you came from. If you fail, then you fail. By now, you must also be aware that even though this is just an extension class, you were the ones to choose this and getting an average below fifty will still lead to expulsion.”

Everyone remained quiet, like all of them are already aware of this arrangement including Jaemin. That means the school is also trying to mould the students’ decision making and that they want the students to be aware of their own limits. After all, not all professions are for everyone, just like how some who can’t make a single tune could never be a singer.

Mr. Park then clasped his hand, earning everyone’s attention on him once again. “Since I’m not a spawn of the devil, I’ll let you guys get a pair for the entire semester. You and your partner will work together in making projects, and assignments for the entire semester however, during quizzes and major exams, you’re on your own.”

‘Great, just great,’ Jaemin thought with annoyance. Not because he knows no one would want to be paired with him but he never really wanted group works in the first place. He always wanted to do things alone, not even with Haechan – which he doesn’t mind considering in case.

As if the heavens heard his thoughts, Mr. Park opened his mouth once again, letting out words which made him sigh in relief.

“If you want to work alone, you’re free to do so but let me just warn you, you will need a pair for this.”

However, how he wish Mr. Park stopped talking about pairs after that sentence. But it seems like the heavens are making fun of him.

“Lee Jeno?” Mr. Park called out. Jeno then raised his hand to get Mr. Park’s eyes who was searching in the crowd. After he saw Jeno’s hand, he made a small smile but Jaemin could definitely see a sense of pity in there.

“This might be inconvenient for you but we all know you’re the best student when it comes to Science to I decided beforehand to pair you up with the B student.”

Jaemin suddenly felt his gut sinking down to the ground when he heard Mr. Park’s statement. ‘Oh my dear lord,’ Jaemin repeated the same phrase at the back of his as he stared at Mr. Park who did not even bother glancing at him nor asking him if he’s alright with Jeno as his partner.

“As you can see, this is the first time a B student decided to take this class and well, it would only be fair for everyone to pair the strongest and the-“

“With all due respect Mr. Park, I want to work on this alone,” Jaemin stood up, earning everyone’s attention including Mr. Park. However, as if he wasn’t insulted enough already, Mr. Park ignored him and looked back at Jeno with a small smile.

“I hope you understand Jeno ssi,” Mr. Park ended the discussion, leaving Jaemin no choice but to sink down on his seat again. In cases like this, Jaemin would want to argue back but he knows doing that will only worsen the situation. Pairing up with Jeno is totally fine if he doesn’t have a choice but what ticked him off was the way Mr. Park addressed him.

_‘Weakest,’_

Jaemin is beyond furious but he doesn’t show it. Instead, he just closed his eyes and gave the bridge of his nose a small squeeze as he breathed in a quiet amount of air and exhaling them, trying to calm his nerves.

As if the day hasn’t gone worst already, Mr. Park decided to say something again that could almost drive Jaemin to launch forward and shut Mr. Park’s mouth with his palm and tell him to stop talking.

“Please, seat beside your pair and since there’s only a few of you, I don’t want to see two pairs sitting beside each other.”

Thankfully, Jeno was quick to stand up and made his way towards the seat next to Jaemin, where he sat a few minutes ago. It was only the two of them in their row, which at least is a small relief to Jaemin’s part.

“Don’t expect me to do everything,” Jeno stated without looking at Jaemin, making himself comfortable at his own seat, getting out a book in the process from his black leather backpack,

Jaemin doesn’t reply to that, in fact, he pretends not to hear anything and merely placed his focus on the board where Mr. Park is starting to write. Their first lesson was all about Digestion and Absorption in the human body which not so quiet enthralling for Jaemin. Human Physiology itself is an interesting topic since he always wondered how one’s body reacts to everything that made it healthy or the opposite but not everything inside it captivates him.

Their first assignment was about making a flowchart about the types of digestion processes that Jaemin would be willing to do alone if it wasn’t for the arrangement. One more thing he realised is that he won’t be able to decide the work alone which made him cursed for the nth time under his breath. It’s not that he doubts Jeno’s capabilities but in fact, he know that they’ll be getting high scores with the president working with him but that’s the problem.

Jaemin doesn’t want high scores.

He just need a fifty.

Nothing less, nothing more.

“Class, before I forget, you might be working with your pair but you will be the ones to decide on your partner’s grade. Here’s a list of criteria on how you will grade your partner in every activity you do together.” Mr, Park said as he projected the said list on the board, using a projector which was connected in the room’s computer.

With a sigh of relief, Jaemin turned his head to Jeno to talk about the grading system.

“Hey, I really don’t care about grades and stuff, I know you’re thinking that I’ll be useless but I assure you that you won’t be working on everything alone. Just give me a fifty on everything, nothing more, nothing less.” Jaemin started, not really pleading or anything, just with his usual plain tone and dead look.

Jeno then half smirked and half scoffed. “That’s if you deserve a fifty.”

Jaemin only shrugged, assuming that Jeno would do what he asked as long as he’ll put an effort that equivalents to fifty. The thing about Jaemin is that he doesn’t really care about competitions. If getting a fifty is the only requirement to pass, then that’s what he going to do. He won’t bother getting himself worked up to get more.

Their assignment would be due on the next meeting and Mr. Park made it clear that he needs a professional output and wouldn’t even bother accepting a ‘novice’ work.

“Whether you like it or not, we need to do this together so I need you to tell me when you’ll be free,” Jeno said with a serious tone, almost hinting that we won’t be taking a no for an answer. But he doesn’t really have to since Jaemin doesn’t want to make this anything big and just go with the flow.

“I’m free on Friday starting on five onwards and if we can’t finish it, we can do it on the weekend.” Jaemin answered.

Jeno then nodded his head but as if he just realised something, he was quick to turn his head to Jaemin. “I can’t do it on Friday so we’ll just do it on the weekend, eight am in the library, don’t be late.”

Jeno sounds too bossy for Jaemin’s own liking but all he could do is nod and not show his annoyance.

The class then went smoothly for the rest of the period. Unlike the normal class, or should Jaemin say unlike the B students, everyone had their attention on Mr. Park and no one was slacking off nor dozing off nor playing games on their phones. Jaemin, on the other hand, instead of looking at Mr. Park, he was looking on the notebook in front of him, scribing down all the important terms his professor would mention.

One would say he wasn’t listening nor paying attention. _But if only they know what’s his brain is doing at the moment._

~

The word ‘bored’ could even describe what Haechan is feeling right now.

The moment he stepped inside the room of his Statistics class, he knew he’ll regret choosing this class. His professor was no other than the boring Algebra teacher Mr. Junmyeon.

Don’t get him wrong, Professor Kim is a respectable and a smart teacher but his teaching are too dull and that’s according to Haechan. What made is worse it that Statistics itself is boring. He doesn’t even know why he chose this in the first place. He could have chosen Chemistry which he now considers as less boring that Statistics.

For the umpteenth time on the single period, he let out the most worn out yawn, not even bothering the furious glance that Mr. Kim’s been giving him for the last one hour.

He looked around the room and noticed that there were a lot of B students in this class that he’s yet to recognize aside from Jisu who was his seatmate by the way. There’s also quiet a large number of A students in the class, larger than B and a few Elites.

He then looked at the board which was now fully covered with examples of permutation and combination and if only he’s brave enough, he would be interrupting Mr. Kim by now and complain about their lesson.

‘Who the fuck would teach these kind of things at this level?’

He was about to yawn once again but it seems like Mr. Kim ran out of patience and threw his pencil ate Haechan’s direction.

“Get out!” Mr. Kim’s raging voice echoed in the entire room, making all the students sink down in their seats. Jisu then looked at Haechan with worry but Haechan on the other hand gave out the opposite reaction.

“My pleasure,” Haechan answered before grabbing all his things and trudged towards the door, not bothering to look at Mr. Kim nor his classmates. If it was any other student, they would have been ashamed with their situation but Haechan walked out from the room with his chin up and a smirk formed on his mouth.

⁑

Specialty class ended and a few minutes ago and Jaemin and Haechan found themselves in the dormitory’s kitchen. Luckily, no one was there and both assumed that maybe students would prefer to eat outside than cook for themselves in their exhausted state.

Jaemin was rummaging through the kitchen cabinets, finding the equipment’s he needed to make meat balls for their dinner. Since Haechan was practically kicked out from the specialty class earlier, he decided to do groceries, buying some fresh ingredients that could be useful in making good and healthy meals. At first. He insisted that he should be the only one paying for the groceries since Jaemin was the one to turn them into quality dishes but Jaemin thought it would be unfair so in the end, they decided that Jaemin would be paying forty percent of the expenses while the rest would be Haechan’s call.

Haechan was patiently waiting for Jaemin to serve the food, sitting on one of the stool while playing with a game on his phone. He was already halfway on winning the current level he was in but Jaemin started topic which made him pause his game willingly to place his attention on the blonde.

“I know it’s not really my business but I’m just worried, don’t you care about passing?” Jaemin asked directly but Haechan was quick to understand what Jaemin is talking about. “Even if it’s just a specialty class, you still need to get a fifty in order for you to stay here in the academy.”

Though Jaemin knows that it’s not just the specialty class he wants to talk about since Haechan never bothered answering any of the test that were given to them for the past two days, he thinks it’s better to start the topic that way.

Haechan only shrugged his shoulder on response before looking back on his phone but Jaemin was pretty sure Haechan wasn’t doing anything since his phone was turned off and that he was only staring at a back screen.

“Unless you’re doing this on purpose,”

Hachan then cleared his throat before looking back at Jaemin who was now back facing him, turning on the stove to start sautéing the onions and garlic he just chopped a few seconds ago. “I don’t know really and I don’t care whether I get kicked out in the school, we both know I shouldn’t be here in the first place since I did not pass the entrance test.”

Jaemin then hummed in response, pausing for a bit to maybe form some words on his mind before saying them. “Are you okay with getting kicked out without knowing the guy yet?”

‘The guy,’ Haechan think. Childish as it may sounds like but deep inside him, he still wants to know who the guy he spends his firsts with is. However, he also thinks that it might be better this way. Nor knowing the guy, not getting his hopes up, not risking getting hurt. Nor risking falling in love.

‘In love,’ Haechan then chuckled at the thought. He doesn’t even know how that feels like. All he know is that he only has one person to love and that’s no other than his father.

‘Oh wait no, there’s Jeno.’ Haechan thinks again.

Jeno. His first friend and his best friend. His saviour.

However, Jeno is so different now. Too different. He doesn't even know if he really loves the guy.

If someone were to ask him, he would think Jeno is not the same boy he met nine years ago. What’s even worse is that Jeno is pretending to not recognize him.

At first, the whole thought made his heart sink down but as time goes by, he realises that people do indeed change and Jeno is no different. Just like any other living things on earth, he changed. A lot.

Haechan’s thoughts then came to a halt when he heard Jaemin’s voice calling out his name.

“Haechan? You okay?” Jaemin is now looking at him with worry in his eyes which made him feel some sort of peace. No one has ever cared about him. Jeno was his first and only friend – as what he thought but now, Jaemin is here and even though he just barely meet the blonde, he knows that Jaemin’s intentions are pure.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he replied with a small endearing smile. The thought of losing Jeno pains him but he’s already passed that phase. He thought it would be hard at first but surprisingly, he easily accepted the fact that Jeno was no longer his friend as if they were never friends to begin with. In fact, he did not even felt any connection with the president at all.

“I really don’t know if I cared staying here or not, maybe it’s because of the fact that I’ve been home-schooled my entire life and this is actually my first time attending real school.” Haechan continued, tapping his fingers at the table in front of him. “Honestly, at first, I don’t want to be here but after meeting you, I thought maybe it would be fun than what I expected but everything’s just so boring you know? And those tests, I don’t even know where to start. I’ll feel like I’ll die answering them.”

To say Jaemin is confused is an understatement. He still doesn’t know what Haechan exactly means by ‘boredom’. He wants to press the topic more, ask for more questions to understand his friend more but he decided to just let it go for now. It’s too early for him to meddle and he doesn’t want Haechan to thinks that he’s meddling. So in the end, he just smiled at the red haired with understanding.

After a few more minutes, Jaemin then finished cooking the meat balls and in the middle of eating their dinner, a name suddenly popped out into his head and he was meaning to ask his friend about that person yesterday but the exhaustion made him forgot.

“By the way Chan, do you know anything about that guy named Donghyuck? Lee Donghyuck? The one from the Fine Arts class yesterday.”

Jaemin didn’t seem to notice how Haechan suddenly froze in his spot and didn’t quiet catch how the other lad suddenly felt tensed with the question he just released. However, before he could notice the change, Haechan was quick to catch and compose himself once again.

“No,” he lied.

“I don’t know him.”

⁑

They were already in their third class for the day which was Calculus I and just before the end of their period, Mr. Byun returned the result of their first test and just as what Jaemin expected, he got a fifty.

He then looked at Haechan who was lying his face on the table in front of him, making his single arm as a pillow. Jaemin could only sigh as a reaction, not really knowing what to do or what to say.

Surprisingly, eight minutes before the class officially has to end for the day, Mr. Byun dismissed them. It was somehow unusual but he really couldn’t complain. Instead, he’s thankful that they have more time to have lunch. However, just before the pair could get out of the room, Mr. Byun’s voice reached their ears.

“Lee Haechan, I need to speak to you.”

Jaemin gave Haechan a worried look to the red haired only responded with a small smile and a nod, indirectly telling him that he’d be fine. Jaemin then nodded back and mouthed an “I’ll be on the bathroom,” before heading out completely out of the room.

When it was only Mr. Byun and Haechan who were left in the room, Mr. Byun then turned his gaze towards Haechan and heaved out a deep sigh.

“Do you find my class boring or do you find me boring?” Was Mr. Byun’s first question.

Haechan remained impassive before answering. “Both sir.” It’s not like he wants to insult the professor but he just felt the need to be honest.

Mr. Byun then let out a small chuckle, standing up from his seat and proceeded to sit towards the teacher’s table, making his and Haechan’s distance short. “Well, to be fair, I find this class boring which makes me boring as well.”

Haechan is confused. He was expecting at his professor to be slightly offended to what he just confessed – not that that’s what he’s aiming for, but isn’t that what the normal reaction should be?

“You remind me of myself when I was young,” Mr. Byun continued, looking at the view beyond the glass windows of the room. “I find everything boring.” After that, he then turned his gaze to meet Haechan’s confused orbs. “but that’s until I found my perfect match.”

“What do you mean?” was the only words that Haechan could speak since he doesn’t really understand what Mr. Byun is trying to say.

“I’ll extract you from your Statistics class,” Mr. Byun answered before continuing, “join the Mathematical Logic class instead. I’ll handle the papers, this shouldn’t be allowed but if my hunch is right, then I’m doing the right thing.”

Mathematical Logic is the hardest subfield of mathematics followed by Topolgy. From what he heard, the passing rate of this class is beyond low that’s why this specialty was dissolved for the last few years but he didn’t know they’d be opening this class again this year.

Haechan suddenly feels uneasy, like someone just saw right through him but at the same time, he might be wrong so he asked Mr. Byun a question which he doesn’t want to hear an answer.

“What exactly is your hunch Mr. Byun?” It’s pretty unusual for a math genius like Mr. Byun to invite him in joining the said class. He’s a B students for god’s sake! Does Mr. Byun wants to humiliate him as a payback for insulting him? For sleeping in his class? For calling him boring?

_Or_

“Like I said, you’re just like me.” The professor answered plainly, still looking at view outside the window.

It was a cryptic answer but Haechan could only shut his mouth since he know Mr. Byun will not really be answering his question right now.

“Alright!” Mr. Byun then clapped both of his hands, indicating the end of discussion. “Class will start this afternoon, I already enrolled you so you don’t have to worry about it. Just be there.” After that, Mr. Byun made his way out from the room, leaving a confused Haechan alone.

~

“Consider yourself lucky,” Jaemin commented after Haechan told him about his engagement with Mr. Byun, He actually feels bad for his blonde friend after Jaemin told him his side of the story regarding his first day on Human Physiology class. But if it was him on Jaemin’s side, he would have talk back to Mr. Leeteuk, worse would have walked out from the class. He imagined himself getting paired with Mark and oh boy, how much he cringed in disgust from that thought.

They were on their way towards the library since their last class for the day ended at three pm, giving them two hours break before the start of their Specialty class.

Well, Haechan’s Specialty Class since on Jaemin’s part, it’s just his second day as a working student which will be on the Science department majoring Pharmaceutical Science. To say Jaemin is excited is an understatement. For some reason, Haechan noticed the fact that Jaemin is fond of chemicals and stuff, basing on the small pocket book Jaemin always carry around.

There was a time when Jaemin went to the bathroom and asked him if he could hold the said book for a while which Haechan willingly complied so just like any normal curious person would do, he examined the book. At first, he was surprised that the book cover was actually not a actual book cover but a hand-written doodle full of colors which he assumed to be drawn and colored by Jaemin. If one would look at it from afar, one would say that the cover was printed but now that Haechan was able to look at it closely, he realised that it’s not a book after all and just a small thick pocket notebook and below the cover was a hand written ‘Na Jaemin’.

If this was any personal stuff, Jaemin wouldn’t let him hold it in the first place so assuming that it doesn’t contain any secrets, he opened the book and what greeted him stunned him. Starting from the first page to the last page was a list of chemicals. From the most common ones to the rarest ones with their description on their side, only separated with a small dash and if he was to judge, he would say that the book contains ‘all’ chemicals to exist in the world. Second thing that astonished him was the fact that they weren’t printed. Everything was hand-written and he wasn’t entirely sure if Jaemin was the one to write all of them so like any other friend would do, the moment Jaemin came back, he asked about it but Jaemin told him he wasn’t the one who wrote them and he just found that book in an old library and decided to buy it, saying that it was interesting to own something like that.

_“_ _Besides, if I was the one who wrote them, I must be a genius don’t you think?”_ He remembers Jaemin telling him that with a laugh.

Right then, he knows that Jaemin’s got a point so without any pondering, he believed his friend’s words and besides, the handwriting was completely different from Jaemin’s so he let go of the topic immediately.

~

‘So this is what Jaemin felt but worse,’ Haechan thought the moment he made himself inside the Mathematical Logic classroom. He was sixteen minutes late due to his ass bleeding again on the ungodly minute and for the second time today, he felt guilty towards Jaemin cause the blonde had go with him in the comfort room since he was nearly tearing up, baffled by the fact that his ‘insides’ aren’t healed yet.

_“How many times do I have to tell you to go to the clinic?”_

Jaemin might have said it as calm as possible but he could see the frustrations dancing inside the man’s eyes.

So now, by the time he opened the door – which took him plenty of courage, Mr. Byun was already at the front, talking about something in the class but halted when he felt his presence.

Haechan then bowed his head and muttered a small apology before going to the furthest seat in the room. If he heard it right, he’s pretty sure Mr. Byun made a smirk just as he turned his back to the professor.

“Wow, a B student,” Mr. Byun said with a smug.

‘Oh how much I want to punch that smug away,’ he thought but he could only roll his eyes at his professor, assuming that Mr. Byun is just making a humour out of him and not really trying to insult him.

“Why don’t you introduce yourself?”

‘Oh fucking- I swear I’d fucking kill you’ he cursed under his breath but as if Mr. Byun could read his thoughts, the older man laughed lightly.

“Relax now B, we haven’t even started yet but you already want to kill me,”

Haechan just let out a not-so loud exhale before standing up.

Before speaking up, he roamed his gaze around the room and realize that just like Jaemin, he’s the only one who’s wearing a grey polo shirt. It was actually okay, he doesn’t really mind being the ‘black sheep’ in the class.

But that’s until he met a pair of eyes that he’s been avoiding since the moment he stepped inside the academy.

‘Donghyuck’

Donghyuck was looking at him with a hard gaze, and he completely knows what’s behind those eyes. Beside Donghyuck was no other than Mark Lee who was also looking at him with impassiveness.

Haechan doesn’t know how many seconds had passed but hearing Mr. Byun’s ‘yah!’ which was obviously directed at him snapped him out from his thoughts. Which he’s also very thankful for.

He then turned his eyes away before clearing his throat. “Name’s Lee Haechan,” he said swiftly before sitting down again, not bothering to say anything else.

“That’s it?” Mr. Byun asked, faking an amusement in his tone. “What about your hobbies? Pasion?”

Before Haechan could stop himself, he was already too late.

“Fuck off.”

“Yah! Yah! Yah! I’m still your professor, want me to kick you out?” There was a smug smile on Mr. Byun’s face, an evident that he wasn’t even insulted in the slightest and was just being dramatic, as if he’s intentionally trying to annoy the red haired lad.

“Yes,” Haechan answered almost immediately which was the truth. All he wanted as of the moment is to get out of that room. Anywhere, just not with Donghyuck, just not with Mark.

“Too bad you’re stuck with me for the rest of the semester,” Mr. Byun said before changing the topic, not giving Haechan any chance to retort which made Haechan roll his eyes towards the older male.

“Alright class,” Mr. Byun started, making his signature ‘clasping of hands’. “Before we get started with our first lecture, I want to inform you that the Korean government will be holding a math competition for all freshmen coming from prestigious college schools around Asia called [Olympiade Mathématique](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympiade_Math%C3%A9matique_Belge) in the next two months. Coincidentally, all deemed to be freshmen mathematicians signed up for this class so it’s expected that the group who will be joining the completion are here today, right inside this room.

Mr. Byun then looked at Mark, his gaze full of something that says ‘this-is-your-time-to-shine’ which made Haechan scoff discreetly.

“As you all probably know, Mark is known as the Math Prodigy in your generation so automatically, he’ll join the competition.”

Everyone then clapped their hands, giving Mark a round of applause and a lot of cheers to encourage the young lad.

Well, except for Haechan.

Before Mr. Byun could continue with his news, a girl who was wearing a white polo shirt signifying that she’s an elite, raised her hand which got the professor’s attention.

“Yes Mina?”

The girl named Mina then stood up before voicing out her concern. “It’s no doubt sir that the students who signed up for this specialty are capable and are called mathematicians for a reason but there are also capable students out there who did not enrol for this class. Like Lee Jeno. From what I heard, he got five out of ten questions correct in the difficult part of Math section in the entrance test, following Mark’s rank.”

“Good question Mina and to answer that, it’s expected for Lee Jeno to join the Jeux Olympiques de la Science competition which will also happen on the same day [Olympiade Mathématique](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympiade_Math%C3%A9matique_Belge) will be held and a student is only allowed to join one competition.” Mr. Byun explained, earning him a few nods from the students in front of him.

“And also, you don’t have to worry about that because I made sure that everyone who’s capable to join the completion is signed up in this specialty class.”

A few elites then laughed at Mr. Byun’s statement, looking at each other with a playful glint dancing invisibly in their orbs as if they’re communicating telepathically. “Are you saying sir that Dumbchan is capable?” The guy name Chenle asked and even though it was meant to come off as a joke – well yes an indirect insult, Haechan couldn’t help but make a small smirk crawling between his lips.

“You don’t have to worry about me sweety, I don’t want to associate myself with self-proclaimed mathematicians anyway,” Haechan said, giving Chenle his fake sweet smile and from the reaction Chenle’s face made, he could see that he hit a mark.

Scoffing with a mix of inappropriate word muttered under his breath, he then look at Haechan with a look of furiousness, “excuse me but I heard you can’t even get ten questions right in the entrance exam. I bet those seven you got were just pure luck.”

“Well excuse me too but I heard you only got one question right out of the ten difficult question and I don’t think that’s how we should describe mathematicians.” Haechen threw back, not releasing the smirk which grew wider on his mouth.

Before Chenle could retort, Mr. Byun beat him into it, calling everyone’s attention. “Now, now guys I don’t want you to fight.” He stated calmly before looking at Haechan and offering the sun skinned lad a playful smile. “You see, Haechan here is a different case. He’s the only student who got a zero in my first test given to all freshmen who were under me this semester so I forced him to sign up for this class so he could at least get help from you guys.”

That got Haechan’s eyes widen in horror, even though he’s fully aware that Mr. Byun is lying, he doesn’t want the students around him, especially the elites, to think that he needs their help. That will only make their egos go bigger than they already are.

Before anyone could question Mr. Byun’s statement, before Haechan could say something that could get him in trouble, the professor then asked everyone to get their calculators, starting to open the topic about their first lesson for the day.

Haechan could only close his eyes, trying his very best to calm his nerves since he knows he only has a small amount of patience within him and they’re running out so quickly.

‘This is going to be a long semester.’

~

Luckily for Jaemin, the laboratory assistant in the Pharmaceutical Science department was kind enough to let his unplanned tardiness slide this time. He did bowed his head countless of times, muttering an apology over and over again to at least show that he’s pretty determined to keep his role as a working student.

“Just be on time next time,” Ms. Soonkyu, who insisted to be called Ms. Sunny, smiled at him sweetly, enough for him to breathe in relief and assume that he’s safe for now.

He was currently tasked by the older woman to familiarize the chemicals and their placement in the storage room of the laboratory which left him no choice but to wear the laboratory gown prepared just for him with a printed ‘PS’, which stand for Physiological Science, under the Afrókrema logo which was attached at the chest part of the said gown. Alongside with the laboratory gown was a normal quality laboratory goggles attached at the top of his head and a blue medical mask haring on his right ear. He might look a little weird but that’s just how it goes if you don’t want yourself to unconsciously get killed by the amount of chemicals inside an enclosed room.

Just before entering the storage area, he then moved his mask and goggle to place them on the proper place, making him look like a legit chemist or a scientist. The moment his eyes landed on what’s inside the area, his mouth was left hanging as he gaped on the view that met him.

The storage room was vast and wide, living up to the academy’s name itself. Even though he was wearing a mask, he could still faintly smell the mixtures of acids and bases lingering on the air, making him leave a mental not to not stay longer on the place and to make sure to wear an air purifying respirator instead the next time he comes in.

Not wasting any more seconds, he quickly roamed around the area, carefully observing the dividers, cabinets, drawers, and shelves and also trying to familiarise the locations of each and everything.

He was on his way to the last shelf of the area when a ringing of a telephone suddenly echoed in the entire room. Following the sound, he found a phone which was neatly hanged into the wall nearing the entrance door. At first, he was sceptical whether to answer the call or just leave it behind but then he thought it must be Ms. Sunny who needs something so without further ado, he grabbed the phone and placed it on his ear.

“Hello? Working student speaking,” he answered calmly.

“Jaemin ssi!” He’s right. A high pitch voice which he’s pretty sure belongs to Sunny answered him. “Dr. Choi is having his specialty class right now and he needs someone to bring the set of chemicals he made me prepare earlier. They’re placed on one of the racks near Acid Division, can you bring the rack into his room?”

Jaemin then turned his gaze towards the division Ms. Sunny mentioned and found the rack she was talking about. “Yes yes, I’ll bring them.”

“Great! It’s on room 605! Make it fast please. Dr. Choi is not exactly the definition of patience. ”Ms. Sunny said in a hurried manner. Jaemin could only then hum in response before the call ended.

Deciding to just come back later, he grabbed the handle of the rack with both hands and started dragging them towards his destination. After arriving at the said room, he knocked on the door first, thinking that it’s the right thing to do sine Dr. Choi might be in the middle of discussion and he wouldn’t want to just suddenly appear without any warning. He then heard a small ‘come in’ coming from the inside which is a cue that he could enter the room.

Trying to avoid the immense gazes that were staring at him, he dragged the rack towards the location where Dr. Choi is pointing. First thing he noticed was how tense the atmosphere is and he could almost feel a strong cold energy coming out from the scientist standing in front of the room. After properly placing the rack on the correct spot, he turned towards the doctor and asked the older man if he needs anything else.

“Just stand there,” Dr. Choi pointed at the front corner part of the room, just beside the edge of the white board that was attached on the front wall of the room. Jaemin nodded politely before walking towards the spot.

Dr. Choi starts talking about the different kinds of strong acids and bases which Jaemin was also trying to listen into, not that he’s interested about it but since he has nothing to do, he decided to just listen to whatever words that came out from the professors mouth.

_Who knows? He might learn something new?_

For a brief moment, he turned to look up from the ground where he was staring at for the past couple of minutes and decided to observe the students in front of Dr. Choi. That’s when he realized that Jeno was a part of the class.

‘How come? Isn’t the maximum number of special class only two?’ he thought at the back of his mind. Also, he felt kind of laughing how everything is merely a coincidence. It’s like wherever he is, Jeno is there.

His thoughts were suddenly came into a halt when he saw Dr. Choi from his peripheral vision trying to unlid a black container which has a big ‘Sulfuric Aci’. However, the moment a small part of the cap lid was removed from the whole. _He smelt something different._

Without any second thoughts, like a spider man who senses trouble, he quickly ran towards the container and pried Dr. Choi’s hand away from the lid and immediately close the whole again tightly, not even afraid of the fact that he’s not wearing any gloves.

He could hear some gasp and murmurs bouncing off the walls of the room but his mind was too immense on the black container in front of him.

“What do you think are you doing?” Dr. Choi’s gaze was sharp, almost like he has the intent to kill with the look he’s giving Jaemin at the moment. After all Ms. Sunny did warn him that the professor is not a patient man.

“I’m sorry sir but I think there’s something wrong with the label, I believe this doesn’t contain sulphuric acid.”

Dr. Choi’s infuriated eyes was quickly replaced with worried ones, immediately grabbing the respirator mask which was placed in one of the glass helves in the room. “Everyone, please grab the same mask and wear them properly. I’ll be opening the lid and pour some contents.”

Jaemin, on the other hand, just wore the surgical mask which was hanging on his ear and his nose going down to his mouth with it.

Dr. Choi glanced at him for a moment before speaking, “you’ll need respirators, that won’t do.”

“I’ll be alright sir, don’t worry,” he answered which Dr. Choi just responded with a small nod.

Jaemin was quietly observing the next actions the scientist was about to do but for the second time, he stopped the older man’s hand with his. Dr. Choi gave him a questioning look, raising his left eyebrow on the process, indirectly asking Jaemin to explain.

“I don’t think this kind of beaker will do sir, it’ll dissolve, its magic acid after all.”

After the small revelation, Dr. Choi grabbed the right equipment that would help him test if it’s really indeed a magic acid inside the lack container. It took them quite a while to confirm that what Jaemin is saying is indeed right which made Dr. Choi gave him a pleasant smile, patting his shoulders in the process.

“How did you know young man?”

The question totally caught Jaemin off guard but just like his reflexes, his mind was quick to form an answer. A believable one.

“I was studying the storage room earlier and I just remembered that Sulphuric acid were placed in grey containers.” Luckily, the scientist did not bother asking him any more questions and just thanked him for his quick thinking.

From then, the class went by smoothly and when Dr. Choi was about to give the class a pop quiz, he asked Jaemin to return to was he was previously doing, not forgetting to thank the young lad once again. Jaemin then bowed his head before making his way outside the room and went back to the storage room.

After what seemed like half an hour, Jaemin ran out of things to do and he was already pretty confident that he was able to know where is where and what is what inside the room. He then sat on one of the seats nearby the door and start thinking about anything. His thoughts were full of the events that happened in the entire first three days in the academy until his mind pictured out a certain red haired male.

‘Haechan.’

Suddenly, an idea popped out in his mind but before he could proceed with his plan, he searched the entire storage room, looking for any signs of cctv cameras or any types of surveillance that might ruin his plan. After making sure for the 8th time that there was none and that he’s safe to carry out his plan, he went to the part or the storage room where old and waste products were separated into. Rummaging through the things, a lips turned upwards and a small smile formed into his lips when he saw an empty bottle which seems to be unused.

Going back to the Chemicals Area, he then started carrying out his plan.


	6. Fireflies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's not enough to be in the right place at the right time.  
> You have to be the right person in the right place at a right time."
> 
> -T. Harv Eker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello ~
> 
> So, I know that alot of you might be confused right now, especially if you'll read this chapter.  
> Please comment down below if you have any question or concerns, but I just want you all to know that I'm completely aware of the confusion and I did it on purpose. There's actually a lot of twist in this story {that might blow your mind, or not) but still, if you want some explanations, I will give it to you as long as their not part of the twists -slash- secrets.

|8.942|

“Dude, I swear whoever’s ruling the heavens right now is mocking me.” Haechan began complaining the moment he took a seat across his blonde friend at one of the tables in the library. Luckily for him, their table was located at a blind spot for the librarian to see and catch him running his mouth with grumbles.

It was a Thursday night and Haechan just finished his second specialty class which is Aerospace Engineering. He was about to return to the dormitory the moment he made himself way out from the classroom but thankfully, he checked his phone and read Jaemin’s message saying he’s at the library so without any contemplations, he dragged his whole body into the said location.

“What is it this time?” Jaemin might sound a bit uninterested but truthfully, he’s just pretty absorbed at a certain gigantic book in front of him.

Haechan then scoffed and stomped his foot dramatically on the ground like a child, recalling the memory that dampened his mood the whole three hours of his last class. “Mark fucking Lee is at the Aerospace Engineering! Dude I swear this isn’t a coincidence!”

Upon hearing the cause of Haechan’s sour spirit, he couldn’t help but wonder at the thought of how him and Haechan shares the same fate. Not that he hates Jeno of some sort but the events made him feel uncomfortable. However, unlike Haechan, he does feel that everything was just a pure coincidence and that there’s nothing really special going on or something bad is going to happen.

When it was half-past nine, both lad decided to return to the dormitory, heading to their room first before going to the kitchen prepare for dinner.

From this time on, the pair decided to make the kitchen their small territory since considering from the past few days, no one really bothered to enter the said place. Well, at least none when they’re there. The dormitory has a small study place or a library but since the household was also full of elites, they did not bother risking going there.

After Jaemin finished cooking their late-night dish, he proceeded to make Haechan a cup of tea, secretly pouring ten drops of the content from the vial he got from yesterday’s work. 

“Here, drink this,” Jaemin then placed the cup right beside Haechan’s plate and Haechan’s eyes suddenly sparked at the present. Letting go of the spoon and fork, he placed both of his palms in the sides of the cup and brought it towards his face, inhaling the deep scent of aroma coming from the drink.

“Ah! White tea, perfect for stress-relieving,” Haechan commented with a smile before taking a sip of the hot liquid. “Oh my god, you’re really the best Jaeminnie!”

Jaemin pretends to scrunch his face in disgust after hearing the nickname Haechan has given him but later on laughed with Haechan before finishing his own food.

Later in the morning, Haechan’s mood was lifted up, claiming how he feels so much better and how the walls inside his ass suddenly felt better that he doesn’t feel anything painful when he moves.

However, Haechan did not notice the small smirk playing on Jaemin’s lips when the blonde was reading his usual ‘pocket book’

⁑

‘I can’t do this!’ Haechan thought as he dropped his pen from his hand, making it roll across the white sheet covered with numbers and letters from A to Z. They were having their second pop quiz in their Calculus and for once, he decided to try answering the question.

Like any normal students would do, he first read the question number one and after doing so, his eyes widened in disbelief before turning his gaze to Mr. Byun who was raising an eyebrow at him. He decided to ignore the professors reaction and returned his gaze towards his paper. Not even grabbing his scientific calculator nor trying to spend time making a solution, he encircled a letter from the choices before proceeding to the second question and that’s when he decided he can’t do it anymore. 

Don’t get him wrong but Haechan has a very low span of interest. He quickly gets bored and the words and numbers in front of him screams ‘boring’ right in his face which brought him back to the time he was taking the entrance exam.

He remembers that time clearly.

_How there were only ten questions worth his attention._

Haechan then let out a sigh before thinking about his plans on the academy.

Which he doesn’t have any.

Getting kicked out is not a problem for him. Heck, he doesn’t even belong in the academy in the first place. He was supposed to be disqualified, but for some reason, he received an email that he was accepted as a B student.

He doesn’t know why. That’s what he keeps telling himself.

But deep inside him, he’s aware.

He knows why the temporary head of the academy reconsidered him.

He’s not a hundred percent sure about it but something’s telling him that he’s right.

A few minutes have passed and Haechan made a quick look on his side, realizing that Jaemin is asleep. Bless his eyesight, he managed to look at Jaemin’s answer sheet and noticed that the blonde only answered numbers one to five, leaving the remaining five numbers blank.

Letting out a small chuckle, enough for only him to hear, he thinks about the mysterious aura coming out from his friend. Jaemin for him is an open book with an alien language. Using words and alphabets that is unfamiliar to him.

If he’s to be honest with himself, he did and still does observe the blonde guy and from his observation, he noticed that Jaemin is not trying to hide something nor is he making that mysterious act intentionally. Like he concluded, he’s just an open book with an alien language.

Then again, that feeling. That feeling he had when he first met Jaemin. The feeing of familiarity and security. Like he have known the guy way before last Sunday yet he couldn’t pinpoint when. What bothers him the most is Jaemin’s eyes. Those dead-looking, impassive, dull eyes. It’s like he already seen them before but just like the latter's voice, he just couldn’t remember when.

He trust Jaemin. He doesn’t want to admit this but he already does. As if his both his mind and his heart are already familiar with the blonde’s presence and he find it weird. He didn’t even got this kind of feeling when he first met Jeno after nine years.

With Jeno, he felt uncomfortable and there’s a sense of strangeness he couldn’t decipher.

Sighing once again, he looked at the time on his wrist watch and noticed that there’s only three minutes left before class ends so without any more thoughts, he grabbed his pen back and answered the four question after the first one without even reading the problems, just encircling the letters, copying the answers he saw from Jaemin’s sheet.

~

‘3:41 AM’

Jaemin sighed after glancing at the clock in the room. He was woken up with ‘that’ nightmare again and his heart was beating crazy, forcing him to sit up from his bed and sip a small amount of water from the glass sitting at the top of the desk beside his bed. He glanced at the other side of the room and saw Haechan peacefully sleeping on his own bunk, making a small smile crawl up to his face.

He only had a total of three hours and nineteen minutes of sleep since he stayed up late, doing the assignment assigned to him and Jeno. It’s actually quiet funny to think that a B student like him is doing an assignment earlier than expected but he has reason for that. First, he would rather finish things earlier than finish them in the last minute which will make him have more free time and stress-free. Second, he doesn’t have any computer nor laptop with him so he had to borrow Haechan’s and he wouldn’t risk bringing the mini computer out from their room in his own hands, thinking he might break it or lose it.

It’s Saturday which means it’s a free day for people like Haechan but not him since he’ll be meeting up with Jeno four hours from now. He knows it’s too early for him to rise but just like any other time when he’s having those nightmares, he knows he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep.

Getting up from his bed, he grabbed his towel and went inside the bathroom, giving himself a hot bath which is one of the ways that helps him calming his heart. Not planning to stay too long on the tub, he used the towel to dry himself up before wearing some warm clothes.

The time is almost nearing half past four when he finished dressing himself up and his mind was all about getting some breakfast so that he could drink his medicine so trudging towards the small fridge in their room, he grabbed some raw meat and eggs before heading towards the kitchen, making himself as quiet as possible to not disrupt the sleeping beauty.

~

It’s like déjà vu.

The moment Jaemin stepped inside the kitchen, a girl was leaning unto a guy, planting soft kisses on his cheeks altogether making soft sounds of giggles while the guy was seated on one of the stools, holding the girl’s waist closely in front of him. 

The case is that it’s the same guy as before but with a different girl.

Unfortunately, Jeno was facing the walls where the door was attached so the moment he saw Jaemin walking in, his crescent eyes turned into serious ones, meeting Jaemin’s eyes for a couple of seconds before the blonde looked away.

After a short minute, Jaemin was waiting for the oil in the pan to heat when he heard Jeno spoke.

“Are you stalking me?”

Jaemin would have scoffed by now if it wasn’t for his chest pain. So he did what he thinks is the best thing to do which was to avoid the raven haired lad and pretend he didn’t hear anything.

Seconds have passed and Jaemin did not hear any extra sounds coming from the president so he assumed that Jeno already left. He was about to breath out a large amount of air he was keeping in when he suddenly felt a pair of hand on his waist, forcefully turning him around.

“What the fuck man,” Jaemin hissed, pushing Jeno away with both of his palms while turning his head to the side, trying to avoid looking at the lad in front of him. Unfortunately for him, he was currently on a weak state so he failed in pushing the guy away. The second thing he did was bringing his hands down, gripping both of Jeno’s wrist to remove the other’s hands from his waist. However, Jeno’s grip was stronger which leaves him muttering profanities which was clearly aimed for the lad.

Jeno chuckled upon seeing the blonde’s reaction before bringing his face closer to Jaemin’s neck, blowing a small amount of air into the younger’s skin. “Isn’t this what you wanted? I mean, after following me around.”

Jaemin remained frozen, flabbergasted on his current situation at a goddamn five in the morning. If only he wasn’t weak right now, he would have kneeled the lad on the groin but the pain was worsening and putting much effort to look ‘okay’ was already a handful for him.

His thoughts came into a halt when he heard a small ‘click’ sound behind him.

“It’s burning,” Jeno said, his face still ’almost’ buried in the crook of Jaemin’s neck. Jaemin realized that Jeno is talking about the meat he was cooking and then understood that the clicking sound came from Jeno turning off the stove.

Jeno then released his grip from Jaemin’s waist and pulled his face away from the lad but upon seeing Jaemin’s current state, he couldn’t help but feel worry.

Jaemin is currently wearing his impassive look but what caught him off guard was the fact that Jaemin’s lips was as white as the color.

‘Is he sick?’ Jeno thought. Being an expert in medical field, he couldn’t help but think that Jaemin might be ill so he thought of asking the blonde lad what’s wrong but before he could open his mouth, Jaemin immediately turned his whole body from him, putting his attention to the now-burnt meat resting in the pan.

Trying to make himself comfortable of what just happened, Jeno moved his feet towards the fridge, opening it and getting a bottle of what looks like to be milk.

Jaemin was now done cooking, more like fixing, the burnt meat and made himself comfortable in one of the tables to eat his early breakfast in solace. On situations like this one, he would more than love to go back to his room and eat his breakfast there but he wouldn’t want to disturb Haechan knowing that the guy was pretty tired after everything that has happened in their first week.

He was hoping that Jeno would decide to leave and let him eat his meal in peace but unfortunately, the said lad sat on one of the chairs across him and decided to strike a conversation.

“Why are you up so early anyways?” Jeno asked after taking a sip of the content inside the bottle he was holding,

“Library,” Jaemin would really love to ignore the raven haired lad but he lknows that would do no good so he answered swiftly, not looking up from his plate. It’s kind of weird for him that Jeno is trying to make a conversation when he’s being obvious that he doesn’t want to talk to anyone at the moment, especially to Jeno specifically.

“But it’s still barely six and we won’t be meeting until eight.”

“So?” Jaemin deadpanned.

“You’re rude,” Jeno stated out of the topic which made Jaemin scoff quietly, still not looking up to meet Jeno’s intense stare.

“And you’re annoying,” Jaemin answered back.

Jeno clicked his tongue, not liking the personality of the B student in front of him. He does find the blonde quiet interesting but at the same time, he couldn’t help but think that Jaemin is pretty ill-mannered but then again, maybe that’s because nobody has ever dared to treat him this way.

After taking the last bite, Jaemin did not hesitate to stand up from the seat and quickly wash the used plates, making it obvious that he wants to get away from the other lad as soon as possible.

Jeno could only follow Jaemin with his eyes, observing the blonde from toe to head, from small movements to big movements.

‘He’s taking them again,’ Jeno though as he watched Jaemin taking out a pill from a vial and popping it inside his mouth, just like their first kitchen meeting. After Jaemin washed the glass he just used, Jeno could see him getting out of the room which made him speak again.

“You’re seriously going to the library now?”

Jaemin stopped on his track and tilted his head to the back, enough to see Jeno before nodding his head in response. He then went outside the kitchen after that, not giving Jeno any chance to answer back and just proceeded outside, deciding to just walk towards the library.

~

Fortunately for Jaemin, the library is empty. Well maybe not, if you include the old man who had a tag on the chest part of his shirt with a ‘librarian’ written on it. Looking for the perfect spot, he went to the furthest part of the said place and when his eyes landed on a table for four which was placed just beside the large glassy bow window.

Sitting on one of the chairs, he smiled in contentment as he found a sense of comfort rushing throughout his body. The whole ambient of the back part of the library is entirely different from the front part. It’s cozier, more solace, and more relaxing, just how he likes it. Before getting something out from his backpack, he turned his gaze towards the outside of the window and he could perfectly see a greeny view which addends to the peace he’s currently feeling.

It’s still quarter to six which means the sun has yet to rise. However, hues of orange could already be made out and the sky was already lightening up which means in a few minutes from now, the sun would show up, knocking everyone’s windows with its burning light.

Finally contented with the amount of scenery his eyes landed on, he sniffed an amount of fresh air before exhaling it and proceeded went on his bag to pull out some things like a notebook a pen and his eyeglasses, tucking both its temple tips above his ear.

Jaemin doesn’t know how many minutes have passed, his focus was wholely placed into the notes in front of him but due to him being vigilant, he did not fail to notice the dragging sound produced by the chair across him as it was dragged on the wooden floor of the library. He then pushed the bridge of his glasses to avoid it from getting loose and looked up, only to find Jeno who was now wearing a denim polo shirt with its front hem tucked in into his black denim pants. Jeno’s hair was styled upwards this time, making the shape of his face more sharpened and his forehead more exposed.

“We won’t be starting until eight right?” Jaemin asked, looking back into the notebook on his side of the table and continued to write where he left a few seconds ago. Even though he’s not exactly sure of the time, judging from the colors displayed outside the window, he assumed that it’s not eight yet.

When Jeno made himself comfortable into the spot, he then proceeded to open his black backpack and pullet out a white laptop which Jaemin could only assume a very expensive one, even maybe more expensive than Haechan’s. “Well since we’re already here, we can start.”

Jaemin then roamed his eyes around, looking for anything that would tell him the current time more to his pleasure, there is a digital clock stucked in one of the columns of the room.

‘6:20’

It’s still early, too early. Jaemin was planning on finishing what he had planned on writing before the clock strikes at eight but knowing the president, he should be focusing on their assignment instead. Putting his notebook back in his backpack before getting another one, he cleared his throat before opening his mouth again.

“What do I have to do?”

Jeno looked up from the now brightening screen, meeting Jaemin’s eyes. “Don’t you have any ounce of initiative in you?”

Instead of getting embarrassed like what Jeno expects him to feel, Jaemin smirked in response, “so would you rather me telling you what you have to do then?”

Jeno was about to answer back but Jaemin beat him to it, “here”. Jaemin threw his flashdrive towards the direction of the president, not so high and not so low, enough for Jeno to catch it.

With Jeno’s fast reflexes, he was able to catch the small device and without having any second thoughts, he inserted it in one of the usb ports.

Finding the file was easy since there were only two folders in the device namely ‘Na Jaemin’ and ‘Human Physiology’ and obviously, Jaemin’s work is located at the latter.

Finding the file, he opened it and what he’s eyes are seeing makes him feel anything else but dumbfounded.

Scrolling up and down, trying to study the content, there’s only one thing that came into his mind.

‘Fifty’

If Jeno was to rate Jaemin’s work, it would be a fifty. Every important terms and pictures were there, the process was also there. However, everything was too broad and too dull. It’s almost like Jaemin purposely made his work worthy of a fifty and a fifty only, not more, not less.

“Are you kidding me? I’m an elite student, a top one, how the hell would you expect me to accept this?”

Jaemin rolled his eyes, not liking the boastful tone emitted from the older. “You improve it then, I did my part and besides, you can see it yourself, everything’s already there. All you have to do is go into details and design the work.”

Jeno bit his tongue as he observed the work in front of him for the second time, and indeed, everything’s already there. He then looked at the process and realised that everything’s too comprehensive. However, even though it wasn’t close to details, he could see how everything was in the correct order and for some reason, the process looks simple as if it’s made to be understood by all the people.

“What’s your reference for the process, where did you copy this whole content?” Jeno asked, looking back at the blonde who was retrieving the first notebook he opened earlier in his bag. “You know, I don’t want to be labelled as a plagiarist.”

“I don’t have any reference for that and excuse me but I’m not a thief.” Jaemin answered. Even though he was keeping his usual dead face on, Jeno could see in his orbs that he’s annoyed.

Jeno then smirked, not believing Jaemin’s words. “Look, just tell me the reference and we-“

“I told you, I don’t have any reference for that.”

“What? Are you telling me that this is based on your own knowledge? Are you telling me that your own eyes were able to witness how digestion process works? Jesus, I know you’re dumb but I didn’t know you go as low as claiming other’s works.”

Making a deep inhale-exhale process, Jaemin closed both of his eyes to calm his nerves down. Feeling his shoulders relaxing, he opened both of his eyes again.

“Alright, why don’t you just do your part and site the reference you used instead?” Jaemin asked calmly which he thinks will also calm the president down. They were very lucky that nobody else is in the library and they were out of reach from the librarian’s vision.

Jeno scrunched his nose in response, “no, that won’t do it. Some process are different and using a different reference would only mess our work.”

Now it’s Jaemin’s turn to scoff, “you’re a genius right? I’m pretty sure you’d be able to make everything precise and less confusing.”

“Of course, you’d expect me to do that! It’s like telling me to redo the process to make it more precise, if you’d just tell me your refere-“

“Oh my fucking god Lee Jeno, just fucking give it to me and I’ll do it myself,” Jaemin snapped. Here he was, trying to have a peaceful morning but Jeno shows up ruining everything.

“And increase our chances of stealing someone’s work? To increase the possibility of getting a mere fifty? No thanks.” Jeno said, emphasizing the last part.

Jaemin paused for a while, gathering some thoughts in his head, making a possible reason to make Jeno accept his work. Thankfully, an idea popped out in his mind. “Look, the reason why I don’t have any reference for that is because that paper is made by my father and it is an unpublished one.”

Jeno gave the blonde and skeptical look, not really convinced with his reason.

“Alright, go to the other folder and look for a paper entitled ‘Digestion Process’, everything’s there. In fact you can copy everything if you want to.” It’s not that Jaemin hates sharing information but the thought of someone reading the works on that folder make him quiet uncomfortable but the situation left him no choice.

Jeno, upon finding the said paper, could only look at the work in disbelief. Everything was too on point like it was made by someone who exceeds the professional level, if there’s something higher than that. Don’t get him wrong, he already has a deep knowledge about their assignment but seeing the paper, it made him feel like he still has a lot of things to learn.

He looked for any name that could tell him the name of the author but he doesn’t find any so he asked Jaemin for that. “What’s the name of your father?”

“No, my father doesn’t want his works to be shared that’s why I refused in giving you any references and we have to respect that.”

Jeno nods his head in response, understanding where the other lad is coming from. “So if that’s the case, I’ll reconstruct this and use our name as authors?” It was supposed to be a statement but it came out as a question, unsure if he could use their names.

Jaemin then heaved a sigh, leaning his back into the chair. “Nah, just use yours. Don’t include my name.”

“But that would be unfair especially since this isn’t really my work.”

“Then change everything, make it different from my father’s work. Make it look like your work.”

Jeno is really confused about the younger’s personality. He’s too laid back as if he doesn’t care about the shits the world gives to him and what confuses him more is the fact that Jaemin looks like he’s trying his best to avoid attention.

‘Just who are you really?’ Jeno thought as he looked at Jaemin who was starting to write in his own notebook. Without any other choice, he silently agreed to Jaemin’s suggestion and started worked on his part.

Jeno glanced into his wristwatch to know the time and realize that it was already nearing lunch time. He’s already almost done in his part, thankfully, the papers of Jaemin’s father was more than enough for them and if he was going to grade their own work, it would be a hundred for sure. He looked up to see what the blonde was doing only to know that Jaemin was having a peaceful slumber, using his folded arms as his pillows while leaning them into the table.

Seeing Jaemin asleep makes an unfamiliar feeling crawl up into him like the blonde’s solace condition was also spreading into his soul. Asleep Jaemin is completely different from the awake one. There’s no impassiveness, guards are down, no frowns, no eyebrows scrunched up, and most especially, no dull eyes that looks like the world its seeing is covered in black and white.

He does hates Jaemin’s attitude but maybe that’s because he can see a part of him in the younger. For some reason, he wants to know what’s running into the mind of the blonde since he seems so unreadable, so hard to understand and so difficult to talk to. 

_Like he’s protecting himself from something or from someone._

Shrugging of his thoughts, he went back on the screen infront of him and placed his whole attention into it, not bothering to wake the blonde up.

⁑

There’s only one thing that Haechan wants to do for the day.

And that is certainly not baking a lasagna for no other than Mark Lee.

Everything was already according to plan. Waking up at eight, taking a morning bath, wearing comfy clothes along with his expensive L’eStrange brand hoodie, then the fourth thing he wants to do is to make himself a healthy breakfast.

But who is he kidding right? Judging from his amount of bad lucks on the first week, he should have expected worst.

He was on his way to the dormitory’s kitchen, walking happily along the hallways, in fact he was skipping! Lee Haechan is skipping his way towards the said place while humming a soft tune, assuming that everyone’s still asleep since its Saturday.

However, all those solace quickly came into a stop when his gaze met an amount of smoke coming from the entrance of the kitchen. Quickening his pace to see if there’s something wrong, ‘Jaemin did not leave the stove on right?’ his eyes were greeted with a huge flame engulfing almost the entire part of the stove, with a certain Mark Lee who was trying his best to stop the fire, wearing that panic look Haechan would love to remember for the rest of his life.

He doesn’t know why since he clearly hates the guy, but he entered the said premise and helped Mark out. Maybe it’s because the kitchen was his and Jaemin’s comfort zone, aside from their own room, that he didn’t want the place to go through renovation because of the fire.

Without hesitation – more like without thinking clearly, he quickly unzipped his hoodie, took it off, brought it to the sink, showered it with water coming out from the faucet, unfolded it, and threw in in the flames.

‘There goes my two hundred dollars worth hoodie,’ he thought as he could only look at the black piece of clothing getting engulfed by the fire, at the same time, engulfing the fire itself.

He left a big sigh before turning around to meet Mark who was has his gaze also fixed at the ‘now-calming’ fire. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He asked in frustration but without anger. Even though he hates the older, he couldn’t help but feel soft as he observe how dejected Mark is.

“It’s none of your business,” Mark mumbled, turning his gaze to the ground.

Haechan then scoffed and faked a bug ‘haha’ before rolling his eyes. “I know you’re a jerk but at least know how to say thank you.”

That made Mark look at him which made Haechan feel suddenly intimidated and the next two words that came out from Mark’s mouth totally caught him off guard.

“Thank you.”

It took Haechan a few seconds to actually swallow the fact that Mark thanked him before rolling his eyes for the second time. “What were you trying to cook?”

“Look it’s none of you bu-“

“Just tell me,” Haechan deadpanned. He doesn’t know why but he actually considers cooking for Mark which made him want to vomit just by the thought by the way. Yet, maybe he’s just too kind, Jaemin did told him that he’s a real softie and just doesn’t see it.

_'Or maybe its because Mark thanked me?'_

Mark just stood there silent, maybe still having a mental war whether to answer Haechan or not. Haechan took this time to look at his surroundings and realize how messy the kitchen had become. Flour everywhere, smell of burnt meat, unequally chopped onions, and…

‘is that blood?’ Haechan thought as he looked at the red liquid resting on the white chopping board. Never in his life had he turned his head so quickly, trying to catch a glimpse of Mark’s fingers.

And he’s right. There’s a fresh cut on one of the older’s index finger, with small amount of blood still dripping out from it.

With pure instincts, he grabbed Mark’s wrist and dragged him into one of the stools, pushing the older to sit. Mark could only widen his eyes at the red hair lad, taken aback with his actions. After he was seated, Haechan took the chance to sit on the stool beside him and grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around Mark’s injured finger.

‘There goes my Jacob Alexander handkerchief,’ Haechan thought as he observe the cloth absorbing the blood from Mark’s fingers.

It’s actually quite surprising how it’s easy for Haechan to get in touch with Mark’s skin. If it was any other student, they must have collapsed by now but Haechan’s different. In fact, he did not mind one bit that he’s touching his enemy’s finger, in fact, nothing too romantic or flustering came into his mind. All he could think was treating the wound.

Mark, on the other hand, couldn’t help but feel familiarity within those hands. The warmth, the comfort, the care.

‘So different form Donghyuck,’ he thought.

“You shouldn't really let your guards down,” Mark stated, looking at Haechan with a serious expression.

It’s funny, Haechan thinks. Those were also exactly what Jaemin told him at the gym last Monday after he treated the scratch from Beomgyu’s face. He actually doesn’t know how to respond to that so he just let the words pass down to his ear and after ‘perfectly’ wrapping Mark’s wound with the cloth, he stood up from the stool and went to the burnt area, starting brush the coal off.

“You don’t have to clean that, I could get some helpers for that,” Mark said, also standing up from his seat.

“Well unlike you Mr. Elite, you got a lot of stars to spend and I couldn’t afford to eat outside so I have to cook here and my stomach culdn’t wait for those ‘helpers’ of yours.” Haechan answered in a matter of fact, still trying his best to scrub off the black burns in the oven. Thankfully, instead of staring at Haechan, Mark managed to move his feet and help the sun skinned male clean up. Haechan did not say anything else and just let the silver haired male do what he wants.

After a couple of minutes, Haechan managed to clean everything, not just the burnt areas but also the entire mess in the tables, counters and floor. Mark, on the other side, managed to wash the burnt utensils and wash the used ones, also managed to throw what needed to be thrown – like for example, Haechan’s expensive hoodie. But he did them carefully though, trying to avoid getting the hankerchief wet. He doesn’t know how he managed to do it but he still did.

Haechan sighed in relief after testing to stove to see if it still works and thankfully, it still does which will not turn his cleaning efforts into waste.

“What do you want to eat?” Haechan asked which caught Mark by surprise.

“Does that mean you’ll cook for me?”

Haechan rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time now, doesn’t really understand himself why he still bother to make an obvious offer. “No, I’m just asking and let you starve,” he answered sarcastically.

Mark then scratch the back of his head in embarrassment, not so sure if he should accept the offer but then again, he’s quiet hungry and he’s not in the mood to go out so he thinks he’ll just take the chance. “Uh, I was trying to make lasagna earlier.”

Haechan then let out a snicker, looking at Mark like he’s the dumbest person on earth. “For a math prodigy like you, I did not expect you to be ignorant in the world of cooking,” he said as he started to rummage through the kitchen cabinets, looking for the needed equipment.

Unknown to Haechan who had his back turned against Mark, the older lad had a smirk crawling up into his face upon hearing the younger’s statement. “So you do agree that I’m a math prodigy?”

Haechan halted on his movements for a second, turning his head towards the smirking Mark and again, rolled his eyes. “That was an insult you know,” he stated before turning back and continued cooking.

Mark only hummed in response, sitting back to the stool where he was seated a few minutes ago. Judging from what happened earlier, he thought that Haechan wouldn’t want him near the stove again and also judging from the cut on his fingers, Haechan would probably freak out if he hold a knife again so he just sat there quietly, waiting for the red haired male to finish preparing the lasagna.

After a bit, Haechan finally finished designing two plates and placed them down on the table, one for Mark and one for him. Without saying any word, Mark dug in immediately to the meal in front of him, not bothering to make a glance at the sun kiss skinned male across him.

When the first bite landed on his taste glands, he couldn’t help but widen his eyes, sensing the familiar taste he just had a few days ago. Haechan, who was looking at the older, smirked upon seeing his reaction, “it’s not even that delicious.”

Mark quickly composed his facial expression before looking up from the plate, “it’s not even close to good.”

Haechan rolled his eyes at that before crossing both of his arms and lied them on his chest. “That’s not what I heard last Monday.”

“You made that?” Mark asked with both of his eyes widening once again, recalling the plate of lasagna Jeno gave him last Monday morning.

“No shit Sherlock nerdy.”

Mark only rolled his eyes back, ignoring the name Haechan called him and returned his attention back to the cheesy lasagna before him. Haechan did the same, stuffing his stomach with his own made ‘breakfast’ though he’s pretty sure it’s not a meal for the morning and it’s certainly not a healthy one.

Both Haechan and Mark were having their breakfast in oslcae when another figure came into the kitchen, shouting Mark’s name to make known of his presence.

“Markyy,” Haechan looked up to see the owner of the familiar voice before rolling his eyes, slightly regretting the action of looking up.

“Donghyuck? What are you doing here?” Mark answered with a slightly bewildered-slash-confused tone.

Donghyuck made a seta next to Mark, before puhsing himself into the math prodigy, giving the older a peck in the cheeks which Mark tried to reject unsuccessfully. “I miss you sweety,” Donghyuck answered in a whiny voice.

Haechan mentally cringed at the nickname, scrunching his face in the process, which of course, Donghyuck managed to see.

“Oh, you’re eating breakfast with Dumbchan?” Donghyuck asked, not prying his eyes away from the red haired male.

Before Mark could answer, Haechan dropped his fork into the plate before standing up, grabbing his plate on the process and went to the sink.

“Rude,” Haechan heard Donghyuck muttered but he couldn’t care less and just finished washing his plate before going out of the kitchen, not batting an eyelash towards Mark.

⁑

“Wait, what?!” Jaemin asked with an astonished tone, almost like he couldn’t believe what Haechan just told him.

“You heard me right,” Haechan answered as he chuckled at the blonde’s reaction.

Both Jaemin and Haechan were having a stroll at the Afrókrema Mall which was locate at the center. Jaemin just bought a cheap wristwatch for himself, judging from what happened just a few hours ago att he library, he thought that maybe it’s time for him to buy himself one. Now, both young lad were having a window shopping, admiring everything that deemed to catch their eyes.

“You did not only had breakfast with Mark but you also made him lasagna?” Jaemin questioned to make everything clear, which Haechan nodded in response. “Dude, the last time I checked, you hated his guts.”

Haechan sighed, also confused as to why he did that but all he could think was Mark seemed a little helpless in the kitchen and he wants to help out. “I don’t know, pity maybe? Wait, enough about me, so Jeno just left you at the library?”

Jaemin brought his hand into his temples, trying to give them a small massage as he recalled what happened at the library. Jeno was yet to finish his part of their assignment and since he has nothing else to do and he doesn’t want to leave the president alone – assuming that he might have question about the paper, he decided to take a short nap. Unfortunately, that short nap turned into a long one because he read the clock incorrectly (because he’s near-sighted) when he woke up for the first time and went back to sleep, he did not even bother to check if Jeno was still there (stupid since the guy was just supposed to be in front of him but he blames it on his dizziness and maybe he forgot that he was suppose to be with Jeno). The second time he woke up, it was already dark and realized that he was asleep for almost six hours, of course, with no signs of the president.

“Well, it’s not like it’s his responsibility to wake me up.” Jaemin answered, though he thinks it was a sick move for Jeno just leaving him like that. Not that he doesn’t trust the security of the academy but anything could happen anytime.

Haechan rolled his eyes at that and let out a small ‘tsk’. “You’re his partner so that technically means you’re his responsibility.”

Jaemin could only shrug at that since there’s really nothing he can do about it and it’s not like something bad happened for him to dwell on it longer.

They were about to leave the mall when Haechan excused himself to the bathroom.

Entering the room which has the sign ‘comfort room’ place on the door, Haechan was relieved to see that the room is empty, making him more comfortable to do his business. 

He was washing his hands on the expensive looking basin when the main door of the bathroom suddenly went open, revealing Donghyuck who was looking at him with an unreadable expression.

“Are you following me?” was the first sentence that came out from Haechan’s mouth as he was looking at the unwelcomed figure at the mirror’s reflection.

Donghyuck did not hesitate to walk towards Haechan, grabbing the sun kiss skinned man’s wrist, yanking it from under the water coming out from the faucet. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing going near Mark?”

Haechan’s eyes widened at the sudden aggressive act the latter gave him but scoffed afterwards while rolling his eyes. “Dude if you don’t want anyone near Mark, might as well put a leash on him.”

“Anyone’s fine except for you! We both know how much of a slut you are and I don’t want Mark to catch your coquettishness.”

“Coquettishness? Wow big word from a stupid like you.” Haechan hissed before pulling his wrist forcefully from Donghyuck’s hold. “And I really don’t have anything to explain to you, Mark can do that.” Haechan then went out from the washroom, leaving a stunned Donghyuck behind.

Donghyuck remained silent. Pondering on Haechan’s words about Mark explaining to him because that really didn’t happen and he’s pretty sure that won’t happen. He did tried asking Mark why he was together with Haechan but the older only shrugged in response and told him we was tired.

Jaemin could see that the bottom part of Haechan’s shirt has gotten wet and Haechan’s eyebrows were scrunched up, plus he fact the the red haired is frowning made him think that something unfortunate happened in the comfort room.

“What happened to you?” Jaemin asked in a slight worried tone.

Haechan did not bother to make eye contact with the blonde and just mouthed a small “let’s go” before walking towards the mall’s exit. However, Haechan could only curse under his breath when he heard Donghyuck’s voice calling out for his name.

“Isn’t that Donghyuck?” Jaemin asked who also happened to hear the voice, making Haechan’s plan to avoid the unwelcomed guest in vain. Without much any other choice, Haechan turned around to face Donghyuck but this time, with an impassive look.

Donghyuck was slightly running towards their direction and the pair could see that the latter was fuming with anger. When he arrived at their front, he looked at Haechan with a warning look before opening his mouth, “if I see you near Mark again, you’ll regret it,” and that was his final words before walking away.

Haechan remained staring at the position where Donghyuck was a few seconds ago, as if like he’s staring into the air. Jaemin on the other hand, decided to stay silent since he could see that his friend is clearly having some deep thoughts.

It seems like a minute had passed before Haechan moved his tongue to speak again. “How dare he threaten me like that,” there were actually a lot of thing that ran into his mind but that’s the major thing he felt, thinking that Donghyuck has no right to speak to him that way.

Jaemin could only blink his eyes in response, not seemingly sure on what to say since he’s pretty lost. Haechan, as if he could read what’s on the blonde’s mind, decided to explain.

“Yes that was Donghyuck, I don’t know what going on between him and Mark but I do know that he’s head over heels with that Math prodigy and he saw me having breakfast with Mark this morning and that’s it.” Haechan then crossed his arms, stuffing both of his palm in his armpits which was also caused by the low temperature of the mall.

“Wow, I did not expect him to be like that, he changed.” Jaemin whispered the last part but of course, Haechan was able to hear it still.

“What do you mean he changed?”

Jaemin who was previously looking at the direction where Donghyuck went into, turned his gaze towards Hachan and let out a small smile, “nothing, maybe he’s just jealous.”

The jealous word caught Haechan’s attention which made him really his eyes. “Jealous my eyes, Mark and I literally hated each other's guts,” he answered before starting to walk again towards the exit with Jaemin on his side.

However, at the back of Jaemin’s mind, he couldn’t help but wonder if that was really Donghyuck. The Donghyuck he knew. The Donghyuck who has the most unique voice he had ever heard. The Donghyuck who was so sweet and caring.

_The Donghyuck who doesn’t want to die._

But judging from the attitude displayed by that Donghyuck, maybe he’s not the Donghyuck he was looking for. Their voice was too different. It maybe sound sad but that’s the only two things Jaemin has to find the Donghyuck he’s been looking for.

_His voice and his name Lee Donghyuck._

⁑

Weekend flew by so fast that they were already in their second week of the semester. It has gotten busier for each of the students enrolled in the academy since major exams are also approaching. Everyone was already in their last class for the day which means Jaemin and Haechan were currently attending their second meeting with their Physical Education class.

This time, Mr. Jung arrived on time and just like their previous assembly, they were tasked to do some basin exercises and stretchings, telling them that they’ll be having an endurance test later on. Also like last time, they were with their previous pair and for Haechan, he was paired with Jeno who went solo previously since Haechan was assigned = more like punished - to do other activity.

Twenty minutes have passed, leaving them ten minutes more before the first activity will end. Jaemin was already sweating profusely, his whole shirt drenched with dampness, plus his blonde hair which was soaking like it was showered with rain. He was already feeling a little pain in his chest which he did not give a damn about, trusting the medicine he took three hours ago.

“Hey hey, let’s do some sit ups,” Jinkyu suggested to which Jaemin doesn’t have a choice but to agree since they have already done many types of exercise and he ran out of idea in what to do next. “You go first and I’ll held your knees.”

Jaemin nodded in response before positioning himself, lying his back into the ground while bending his knees outwardly. Jinkyu also then positioned himself, placing both his knees into Jaemin’s feet and holding Jaemin’s knees in place to keep it steady.

“For how many minutes?” Jaemin asked.

“Just do it fifty times,” Jinkyu answered to which Jaemin nodded in response before starting to lift his upper body up from the ground and lying back again, doing the same action constantly, at the same time, doing some counting on the back of his mind. Fifty times is pretty much easy for him if he’s body hasn’t already exerted so much effort for the past twenty minutes, however, due to the exhaustion, he could feel himself having a hard time regaining a steady pace breathing.

Jaemin was too focused on catching his breath, at the same time, trying his best to achieve the fifty sit ups that he did not realize Jinkyu eyes darkened as he stared at him. Everything happened in a swift motion and all he could ever register was receiving a big blow into his forehead. He could mentally hear a loud ring vibrating from the front part of his head, going to the back while a surge of headache suddenly crawled into every part of his brain.

“Ahh!” He could hear Jinkyu’s voice in the background, crying in pain and a few gasps coming from here to there, and a loud whistle that rang across the entire gym.

“What happened?!” Jaemin was still frozen into his spot bur he finally snapped from the shock upon hearing the furious voice and turned his eyes towards the newcomer. It was Jeno, who was now sitting beside Jinkyu who has his butt seated on the floor across Jaemin. Jaemin’s eyes was directed at Jeno’s but he wasn’t looking at him, instead, he was trying to blink both of his few times to clear his slowly blurring sight.

Haechan, who was also startled with Jinkyu’s load groan, immediately went to Jaemin’s side. He laced one of his palm on Jaemin’s back while repeatingly asking “are you okay?” which of course, Jaemin did not managed to catch.

He faintly heard Jinkyu growling before answering Jeno’s question. “He was doing some sit ups while I was holding his knees but he suddenly held the back of my head and banged his forehead into mine!”

‘That’s not what happened,’ Jaemin wants to retort but the overwhelming pain that crawls into the back oh his head was rendering him to talk. He could faintly hear Haechan’s angry voice in the background but he wasn’t able to quiet catch the whole words.

“Dude you’re bleeding!” the giant elite as described by Dino earlier, lifted his index finger into the air, pointing directly at Jinkyu’s face. A drop of blood was running from Jinkyu’s nose going down into his snout barely reaching his upper lip.

The sight suddenly made Jeno more furious than he is like he’s only seeing red so without hesitation, he suddenly grabbed the collar part of Jaemin’s shirt and pulled the blonde lad up forcefully.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Before Jeno could do something worse, Mark suddenly went into his side and grabbed his arm which was clutching tightly into the cloth of Jaemin’s top.

Jaemin, on the other hand, felt suddenly taken aback from the sudden movement of his body especially his head caused by Jeno’s attack, and he could feel a part of his brain going through something near asbarin trauma which caused the ache to triple in effect, leading him to tightly shut his eyes. He doesn’t know what happened but he could feel Jeno’s grip loosening and with the small ounce of energy left in him, he forced himself to stand in his two feet.

On the spur of the moment, he suddenly couldn’t hear the chat of the people around him, he suddenly couldn’t hear Jeno’s voice. He suddenly couldn’t hear anything except for a crying child as if he was suddenly transported into another place. _As if he was suddenly transported into the dream he’s been having over and over again._

_‘Mommy wake up!’ Jaemin suddenly see waves of images of a crying boy clutching into something, into someone, and his hands are full of red. Just like in his dreams, the voice is the same but this time, he could see a something that looks like a short clip which he would normally see in the internet._

_All of a sudden, he could see a woman who looks like she’s on her late twenties, looking directly into his eyes, into his soul. He’s not sure if he’s still on the same scene where a child was crying but he knows the woman is looking at him. Her eyes were red and she was crying but there were no sign of tears strolling down into her face like she ran out of them. The woman then lifted her hand towards Jaemin’s face._

_“J-Jae-min, Jaemin,” then the woman made her last and final smile before her hand dropped into the ground and her eyes closed._

Jaemin open both of his eyes abruptly and was met with Jeno’s orbs that are directly staring at his. If he were to guess, he would have thought that Jeno’s expression is currently mirroring his. But why? Wasn’t Jeno angry? Why does he looks like he’s full of confusion? Full of worry? Full of questions?

But what Jaemin failed to realize was the single tear that rolled down into his cheeks the moment he opened his eyes. He failed to realise that just like Junkyu, a drip of blood also came rushing down from his nose down to his snout. Everything was happening too fast for Jaemin that he did not realise he’s been missing the thing that he’s supposed to be paying attention. Like the heavy pang on his chest. Like how he’s starting to breath unevenly. Like how his knees suddenly dropped into the ground unintentionally. 

“Jaem! Jaem!” Jaemin can’t seem to perceive what’s happening anymore except for Haechan’s voice frantically calling out to him. He could feel his surroundings starting to spin like he’s the one whose spinning himself and his sigh is starting to get blurry and before he knows it, everything became pitch black.


	7. Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Maybe it's not always trying to fix something broken.  
> Maybe it's about starting over and creating something better."
> 
> -Unknown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is quiet a long chapter.
> 
> Please guys take note of the smallest detail, they're very important. I tell you you won't be able to understand the story if you skip small parts. Then again, if you have question, please fel free to ask.
> 
> XOXO

|14,123|

Jaemin woke up with a throbbing pain on the inside of his temples which was the first thing he noticed when he regained consciousness. Fluttering his eyes, his sight was met with a white painted ceiling white a bright white light illuminating the room. Slowly, he tried to sit up and that’s when he realized that he’s lying on what seems like a hospital bed judging from the all white sheets and pillows plus the smell of some familiar chemicals floating around the air. He noticed that he was already on his school uniform when he brought his palm into his chest, clutching the fabric in the process.

As if on cue, the curtain on the side of his bed suddenly swiped open revealing a pale young man who was wearing a white scrub outfit, greeting him with a pleasant smile which reveals his deep right dimple, making him look more angel-like than he already is.

“Hello Jaemin, how are you feeling?” the new comer asked, not letting go of the smile he’s wearing. His voice is also as modest as how he looks like which makes him more suitable in his job which Jaemin assumed to be a nurse.

“I guess I’m feeling better, just a little headache but I’m good,” Jaemin answered hesitantly, not really so sure of how he’s feeling at the moment. He paused for a moment to check his breathing and his heartbeat and realizing that both are working normally, he tugged his lips upwardly a little bit before saying a “yeah, I’m good.”

The man chuckled in response before opening the chart he’s been holding since the moment he appeared. “Alright, so sir Yunho told me what happened and it seems like you experienced a mild brain trauma from the blow you experienced which I find quiet weird since I don’t think colliding your forehead with another forehead doesn’t really result to this stuff, I mean it takes a huge blow for someone to experience this unless,” he paused for a while, seemingly hesitant whether he should voice out his knowledge or not but in the end, he just go on with it, “unless you experienced this before?” It came out as a question instead of a statement, indirectly telling Jaemin to give some explanation.

Jaemin took a deep breath, contemplating at first on what to answer or what to explain. It isn’t really a secret for him but he doesn’t want people to know either. He hates it when people looks at him with pity and most of all, it’s just making him remember the forgotten memories he doesn’t want to remember. However, he knows there is also no point in lying and telling the truth wouldn’t really change anything since it was all in the past now so he decided to just give a broad answer.

“Car crash when I was still five.”

The man then gave him a reassuring and encouraging smile and he could almost see the gratitude of the man’s eyes for him telling the truth. “Alright then, so that explains it. The blow you got triggered the past trauma your brain experienced but I scanned everything already and the good news is everything’s alright, the only one thing I’m curious about is that Yunho told me you seem like you got a shock? It took you a few minutes before you collapsed, is there anything else you want to tell me?”

Jaemin sighed again. If he was to be honest, he doesn’t want to talk about it. He doesn’t want to tell anyone about his dissociative amnesia from he was five. It was the result of the car crash accident according to his adoptive father. He admits that sometimes, he would see pieces of blurry images suddenly appearing into his mind but he forcefully pushes them away, not wanting to remember things that would only make him suffer.

_That would only stress him up._

This time, he knows that he needs someone to rely on. Someone that would could cover him up in case bad things comes up, and it seems like the man in front of him is the perfect candidate, unless he’s a working student which could be possible judging from how young he looks like.

“You’re a nurse here?” Jaemin asked to prove his asusmption. He can't risk telling his weakness to just anyone. 

The man looks like he knows what Jaemin is up so he let out a small laugh, pretty amused with how high Jaemin’s guards up are. But nevertheless, he answered the blonde lad honestly.

“Doctor, Doctor Zhang Yixing,” Jaemin looks at him sceptical, not bothering to hide his judgemental stare to the now-chuckling doctor in front of him. He doesn’t want to be rude but he also doesn’t want to risk spilling out facts about himself to the wrong person.

Doctor Zhang then grabbed the ID sling which was hanging around his neck, pulling the ID outside and showed it to Jaemin. “Here, I hope this is enough proof for you to trust me,” he said with kindness and patience, as if he could see through Jaemin’s eyes that he has some terrible trust issues but at the same time, he needs someone to trust. “And don’t worry, nobody else is here so no one would be eavesdropping.”

For the first time in their meeting, Jaemin smiled at the man in front of him, a smile that starts to show gratitude and a little bit of trust. Not having any more doubts, he told Dr. Zhang about his amnesia and how he doesn’t want the memories back. He told him how a clear image suddenly ran across his mind for the first time right after Jeno pulled him up abruptly. Every time he gets those images, they were always blurry and sometimes, he could only hear voices and it was his first time getting such picture with a woman calling out his name. It was only for a quick second and he wasn’t even sure if he still remembers the face. He also admits the fact that he understand none of them.

“Do you want to start a therapy now?” Dr. Zhang asked curiously with worry in his tone. However, Jaemin immediately shook his head, claiming that he doesn’t want to remember anything. He doesn’t want to add some baggage into his back which was already fully loaded. He can’t risk another problem. He can’t risk another stress. He can’t risk another pain.

Dr. Zhang suddenly became quiet for a while and now, Jaemin could see that he’s the one getting judge and for some reason, he feels like he already knows what’s coming out from the doctor’s mouth next.

“Does this have something to do with the scar on your chest?”

The heavens are indeed on Jaemin’s side today when the curtains suddenly slid open again, revealing his red haired friend who have his bag hanging on his shoulder.

The atmospehere suddenly became quiet and both Jaemin and Dr. Zhang turned their gazes towards the newcomer, making Haechan suddenly pause his whole body.

“Uhh, did I interrupt something?”

Jaemin was about to answer but Dr. Zhang beat him into it. “No, not at all, in fact Jaemin here is good to go and was just waiting for you since I told him that you just went out for a while to get his things.”

Jaemin looked at Dr. Zhang hesitantly but the elder just winked at him, indirectly telling him that his secret is safe with him to which he nodded with a response, but not after he swallowed the lump of saliva that formed in his throat.

“Y-yeah,” Jaemin stuttered, “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said as he looked at his bag which Haechan was carrying.

Haechan then sighed before placing the bag in one of the vacant stools near Jaemin’s bed. “It’s no big deal honestly, I was just beyond pissed with that Jinkyu guy, man he’s crazy!”

Oh right, Jinkyu. The man behind this all. Jaemin remembered how Jinkyu accused him for something he didn’t do but what pisses him more was how Jeno reacted. He doesn’t even have any goddamn proof yet he acted rashly and believed that Jinkyu guy.

‘So much for being a prodigy.’ Jaemin thought.

“Alright kids, I’ll be going now. Jaemin, just don’t try to stress yourself for now and drink lots of fluids then you’ll be fine.” Dr. Zhang said before bidding his goodbye, leaving the two males alone in the cubicle.

When Dr. Zhang was completely out of sight, Haechan then walked towards Jaemin’s bed and sat on the side. “Do you think you can handle being a working students today? We could just give Mrs. Jung an excuse slip about the incident and of course me, being your good friend and roommate, should be looking out for you.”

Right, they still have working schedules to attend to and Jaemin being Jaemin, doesn’t want to leave a bad impression and besides, he really needs stars right now since he just consumed some of his stars for a watch so he shook his head and offered an optimistic smile. “We should go, you heard the doctor, I’m good to go and besides, we’re excited for this.”

Haechan then chuckled at Jaemin’s positive attitude and nodded his head in return. “Right right, let’s go, we have ten minutes left before work starts.”

Carefully, Jaemin stood up from the bed and grabbed his backpack, placing it in front of his chest just like how he did it the first time he stepped inside the academy. Haechan, however, didn’t bother asking him why he’s wearing the strap in the opposite diection, instead he asked something that was already considered as a ‘late reaction.’

“Wait, did you say doctor? That guy is a doctor?”

Jaemin laughed at Haechan’s sudden outburst and explained the answer to him along their way to the Fine Arts specialty class.

⁑

Thirteen minutes left until Jaemin and Haechan are done for the day. Haechan is currently assisting Mrs. Jung is her specialty class, leaving Jaemin on the instruments area who wasassigned to clean the room.

To say the blonde lad wants the time time to go faster is an overstatement since he’s still feeling a bit overwhelmed with today’s events. Yes, his chest pains became lesser ever since he collapsed at the gym but it’s still there. He could still feel a small tug on the said part every time he moves abruptly which made him have to go easy on himself and do his assignment in a slow pace, otherwise, he may have to go to the clinic for the second time.

After washing the dirty cloth he used for dusting off the instruments, he glanced around the room to see if he missed a spot. He was only tasked to clean the musical devices but thinking that that would be too easy, he decided to clean the whole room instead – swiping and mopping the floor, wiping the windows and dusting off the shelves and tables. After looking around, a small victory smile crawled into his lips, feeling a sense of pleasure of now seeing a neat room.

However, the smile didn’t last long that much after hearing a small knock from the open door, making him look at the creator of the sound.

Jeno.

Jaemin didn’t move from his spot. He stays intentionally frozen while fixing his impassive gaze at the lad standing on the door frame, just waiting for the raven haired to make his move or to open his mouth first. It’s not a challenge nor is it a playing hard-to-get kind of thing he thinks, he just doesn’t feel the need speak first, nor does he feel the need to go near Jeno. Even though his mind was still a bit hazy and he still doesn’t remember everything that happened after Jinkyu hit his forehead, he is still able to clearly make out Jeno’s anger and furious look towards him that time. He could remember how Jeno grabbed the collar of his hair and forefully pulled him from the ground.

Jaemin doesn’t know how many seconds or minutes have passed but assuming that the president won’t be speaking anytime soon, he turned his heels, his back now facing Jeno, and grabbed his backpack on a nearby table where he placed it earlier. Since his task is done, he decided to just go back to the department and just wait for Haechan there.

He quickly went out of the room, not bothering to give Jeno the smallest glance and just went on his way but before he could go away further, he felt a hand grabbing his wrist. It wasn’t a soft hold but at he same time, it wasn’t forced, just enough to make him stop his movements.

Musterring a sigh, he turned around and gave Jeno a questioning look, indirectly asking the lad to start talking. He doesn’t know if the look he’s giving at the moment screams annoyed but he’s for sure that he’s not being subtle about his patience running out and it seems like Jeno was able to realize this so he immediately cleared his throat before opening his mouth.

“I want to apologise for what happened earlier.”

‘Ah, so this is what it’s all about,’ Jaemin thought.

Haechan did told him that Mr. Jung told everyone in the class what really happened since fortunately, he was able to witness everything. However, what Jeno did didn’t really crossed his mind for the past few hours, in fact, he did not expect the raven haired to apologize. Not that he thinks the guy is a bit of a dick – or so he did – but it’s not really that important for him. He assumed everyone would just move on and continue with their lives like nothing happened especially Jeno since he looks like a guy who has a lot of pride but then gain, he’s a president and a genius for a reason and apologizing would boost his morale back.

After hearing what Jeno said, all Jaemin did was look down at Jeno’s hand which is still holding unto his wrist, as if he’s discreetly telling the other a ‘don’t touch me’ and Jeno, following Jaemin’s gaze, was able to receive the message and immediately let go of the blonde’s hand.

“Sorry,” Jneo said as he placed palm on the back of his head, caressing his hair, or his head, in an up and down manner.

If Jaemin was a jerk, he would have laugh at the president’s actions right now, who looks embarrassed and if he’s not wrong, intimidated. Who would’ve thought the almighty Jeno can become like this?

Jaemin remained quiet for a few seconds, not really knowing what to say, not that he’s feeling awkward or anything but then again, he wasn’t expecting this. But after a few self-deliberation, he decided to shrug his shoulders and say the three words “forget about it,” before turning his shoes once again.

“Wait,” Jeno called out which made him stop on his track for the second time and turned his head towards the lad, this time, a confused look was displayed on his face.

“Can I take you out for an ice cream?”

If Jaemin thinks that Jeno apologizing to him is a definition of ‘unexpected’, he takes that back now because this, this is the real definition of unexpected. He’s still confused as ever but now, both of his eyes widened in surprise after hearing what came out from Jeno’s mouth which made his confused look mixed with a surprised one.

“Don’t get me wrong, I just wanna make it up to you,” Jeno explained further after seeing Jaemin’s reaction.

It took Jaemin a few other second to let Jeno’s words sink into his mind before answering.

“Uh, no?” Jaemin doesn’t know why it came out like a question but he knows for sure that he doesn’t want to eat ice cream especially if it’s with Jeno. He’s an awkward person and just by the thought of them eating sweets together makes him feel uncomfortable. “Besides, what happened earlier is not really a big deal.”

Jeno is quiet surprise about the blonde’s answer. Though he already expected this to happen but maybe it’s because of the fact that he hasn’t been rejected before and hearing a rejection from Jaemin, a B students at that, is still surprising. However, the guilt is still there and call it petty or not but the thought of Jaemin forgiving him that easily doesn’t sit quiet well with his conscience so he tried once again.

“I insist, it’s my treat and you can take Haechan with you if you want. “

Jaemin is not really sure on what to say. He knows for sure that he doesn’t want to accept the invitation but maybe going out tonight won’t be that bad especially after everything that happened today. Also, now that Jeno said he can bring Haechan, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to accept the offer.

_And of course, his heart. It needs air._

His mind is still full of hesitation but he gave up in the end and just accepted the offer.

“Alright.”

⁑

Well no, it’s not alright.

Jeno did told him that he can bring Haechan but Jeno never said anything about him bringing Mark.

Then of course, wherever Mark goes, Donghyuck follows.

So now here they are, at an expensive looking restaurant, sitting together at a one big table.

Their initial plan was only to eat ice cream together however, Jeno initiated to just make it a dinner instead and asked them if it was okay, which of course, they accepted. No, don’t ask them why they did because they don’t know either – or maybe it’s because of Haechan’s _‘oh come on Jaem, he’s treating us a dinner into one of the fanciest restaurants in the central, might as well get advantage to that.’_

It would have been easier to avoid this situation if Jaemin knew this would gonna happen way before they sat on the seats of the beanery but no, Mark and Donghyuck came right after him and Haechan placed their orders, leaving them no choice but to endure the awful, nerve-wrecking night.

_‘So much for letting my heart breath.’_ Jaemin thought as he glanced around the table, not bothering to be subtle in observing each of the elite seated just right beside him.

He’s hell nervous. That’s not a lie. To say that he wants the floor to open up and swallow him whole is not an exaggeration but a fact. Honestly, he wouldn’t be nervous if only the red haired male who’s sitting beside him is not gripping his hand beneath the table so tight, making him feel the sweat coming out from his friend’s palm. He could only grip back, hoping that Haechan would get his message which is ‘I’m sorry I brought you into this, please calm down,’ but alas, Haechan only gripped him hardend than it already is.

The whole table was quiet in a way that could make one become deaf. It’s not the kind of solace a person would want and maybe that’s because Jaemin knows that even if they were all silent physically, their minds are full of unheard noise.

Jaemin really hates these kind of situations. It makes him feel suffocated which is why he thought of excusing himself to the restroom but before he could stand up, Haechan pushed his thigh down with a fist and gave him a ‘don’t you fucking dare leave me’ look which made Jaemin let out a small chuckle, making everyone at the table look at his way, giving him a confusing look, indirectly asking him what’s funny.

A few second had already passed but their orders are yet to arrive. Donghyuck, who looked like he wanted to break the silence for a while now, finally broke the defeaning peace with a question.

“So, Jaemin was it?” He started, displaying a not so friendly smirk on his face. “I heard from Rejunnie that you had Human Physiology as your special class?”

Jaemin felt that Haechan suddenly went tense when Donghyuck opened his mouth, making him glance at his friend’s direction first before answering the question with a small nod.

“Ah, wow, Dumbchan-“ Donghyuck suddenly halted and cleared his throat before continuing, “I mean Haechan also went for Mathematics Logic, you’re really partners aren’t you?”

Jaemin’s not quiet sure if that was supposed so be an insult but that was later confirmed when he saw Jeno giving Donghyuck a scowl with a small ‘yah’, asking him to stop.

“What?” Donghyuck continued, “It’s true, they’re partners indeed! Both dumbs enrolling in the toughest specialty classes in the academy.”

“Dumb? Please, don’t start,” Haechan suddenly spoke up, looking at the empty plate in front of him.

“Oh? Why not? I mean, we all know how you get zeroes in your tests on the first week and your entrance exam? Who the hell would only get an average score of five out of one hundred? I mean, I’m not trying to insult you, I’m just stating a fact.” Donghyuck said in an innocent tone, and as if his two friends bought it, no one bothered to shut him up.

“How about you Jaemin? How much did you get during the exams?” Donghyuck now diverted his attention to the blonde as he placed both of his elbows in the table and placed his chin on his crossed fingers.

Jaemin doesn’t want to answer. Not that he’s hiding his fifty-one average score but he think voicing it out would be too risky. One answer would always lead to another question and he doesn’t want that.

_His fifty-one percent is not a normal fifty-one percent after all._

Thanfully, it seems like Haechan noticed his discomfort so he decided to answer it for him instead. “He has no obligation to answer that.”

It seems like Mark and Jeno were also anticipating to know how much Jaemin got that they were oth startked when Haechan answered instead.

Donghyuck then snorted before letting out a long ‘oooh’. “Why? Is he embarrassed?”

Before Donghyuck could answer back, this time, Jaemin decided to speak up. “No, but you’d be surprised.” His tone was calm but Donghyuck might have felt a little intimidated with the strong gaze Jaemin is giving him at the moment. But then, as prideful as he is, he decided to push the buttons further.

“Oh but I love surprises.”

“And I hate surprising people,” Jaemin answered back almost immediately as if he already anticipated Donghyuck’s comeback.

As if on cue, the waiter arrived, brining their orders.

If Jaemin was alone or with Haechan, and only Haechan, he would have open his jaw in awe at the dazzling dish served in front of him. Everything looked exquisite and he wouldn’t even deny the fact that this is his very first time seeing such food. It’s true that he thinks the prices are too much but upon seeing the jewel-like grilled lobster, he began to think otherwise.

The five of them ate their dinner in silence however, Jaemin did not fail to notice how Haechan would roll his eyes in subtlety in annoyance whenever Donghyuck would try to feed Mark. If he could read what’s on his friend’s mind, it would have been full of ‘he has his own goddamn hands’ or ‘get a fucking room’ and because of this thoughts, he failed to notice the small smile that managed to form into his mouth.

The dinner went well than expected and now, the five of them were on their way to the bus stop. Since Donghyuck lived in another dormitory, they first went to the bus stop where a minibus for the said dormitory will arrive. After Donghyuck bid his farewell – though he was quiet upset of being the only one to have a different direction, the four remaining lads started walking towards their own direction.

It’s quiet weird, how to B students are walking together with the two said ‘prodigies’ as if they were some sort of group of friends. Haechan and Jaemin were walking in the front while Jeno nd Mark were at the back, following them.

They were already halfway towards their destination when Haechan suddenly moved closer towards Jaemin and whispered something on the younger’s ear.

Jaemin then gave Haechan a slightly bewildered look while the sun kiss skinned male only grinned sheepishly, as if he’s purposely showing his devil sweet tooth.

“No Chan, it’ getting late,” Jaemin answered with as he turned his gaze back at the front.

Haechan then stopped walking before grabbing Jaemin arms with both of his hands and swayed them back and forth, making the blonde lad stop on hist strack as well. “Come on Jaem, please,” Haechan whinned.

The two males at their back stopped as well and could only look at the now-bickering duo in front of them confusingly.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.” Jaemin said with a hint of defeat, causing Haechan to shout a small ‘yes!’. Jaemin then turned around to speak to the other pair.

“You guys can go first, we gotta stop somewhere else.”

Mark and Jeno looked at each other, confusion was written all over their face and Jaemin couldn’t blame them. It’s already almost nine in the evening and staying outside for too long will only tire themselves out more which is not a good idea since tomorrow is clearly a Tuesdy, not a Saturday.

“But this is the last ride,” Jeno answered which is a fact. On weekdays, the last ride is only up until nine pm and if you missed that, you’re on your own.

Jaemin sighed once agin, obviously already regretting what he’s about to say next. “We’ll walk.”

The central is actually not a dangerous place. It’s not like a city where thugs and thieves are everywhere. However, the distance from the central to the dormitory is quiet far and exhausting and Jaemin and Haechan are fully aware of that yet here they are, acting stupid.

‘Well no, only Haechan,’ Jaemin thinks.

Jeno looked at Mark one last time and Mark could see an apologetic smile on the president’s face, causing him to widen his eyes.

‘No fucking way dude,’ he thought mentally but before he could louder, he’s already too late.

“We’ll walk with you.”

~

At first, Jaemin protested, thinking that Jeno and Mark doesn’t have to go through the hassle which is Haechan’s wrong decision in missing the last ride, however, Jeno insisted and he thinks it’s better to get it done rather than arguing.

So here they are, at an ice cream truck, each buying coned ice cream.

Yes, you guess that right, Haechan exchanged the comfortable ride to their dormitory for a cone of ice cream. Dumb decision right? Totally – or as what Jaemin thinks.

If only he could ditch his friend, he would. But Jaemin thinks he’s partly at fault for Haechan’s cravings since their very first plan was to get an ice cream, not a dinner. So here he is right now, putting up with Haechan’s wrong decision.

The weight wuld have been less mentally heavy if Mark and Jeno left them but no, the four of them are together right now and he doesn’t know what to feel except for feeling bad for the two lads who had to go through the same misery at nine in the evening.

He could feel Mark wanting to say something, maybe wanting to insult Haechan for acting like a child but Jeno only patted his shoulder, as if indirectly asking him to just keep quiet which is just right since Jaemin and Haechan did not force them two to come with them.

“I’m telling you kid, we don’t have that kind of flavor here,” the old man behind the servings said for what looks like the umpteenth time now, making Haechan stomp wiggle his whole body like a child.

“It’s simple, just mix vanilla, dark chocolate and milk chocolate altogether and put chocolate balls at toppings! I promise I’ll double the pay!” Haechan pouted, trying to win the old man’s heart with his self-proclaimed cuteness.

The old man sighed in defeat before muttering a heavy ‘alright’ two times, making Haechan throw his fist in the air in victory.

Upon seeing the interaction, Jaemin could only put place his palm in his face, like he’s the one who’s embarrassed with his friend’s actions.

Mark, on the other side, who got more impatient second by second, rolled his eyes and muttered a ‘such a child’ under his breath which didn’t go unnoticed by Haechan.

Haechan glanced at Mark and gave the older a stink eye before rolling his eyes back.

“Here you go kid,” the old man returned with Haechan’s order, but unlike the other three, Haechan’s ice cream was placed on a cup instead since his older was quite too much for the small cone. “Do you want the cone?”

Haechan immediately nodded in response and his eyes sparkled upon accepting the delicious-piece-of-art in front of him which made the old man chuckle. “You’re lucky I’m in the mood to be creative.”

Haechan bowed his head three times, enough to show his big gratitude towards the man and paid the price in double before saying a big “thank you so much, I promise to come back.” The man only smiled before closing down the window of the truck and changed the open sign into close. The four young men waited for the truck to drive away before deciding to finally go back to their dormitory.

Just like the arrangement before, Jaemin and Haechan were walking at the front while the two known prodigies were at the back. It was quiet a chilly night and thankfully, each of them were wearing warm clothes that will help them survive the thirty minutes walk.

Mark and Jeno were having their own world, talking about things Jaemin and Haechan did not bother to listen into, since they’re apparently not the type to eavesdrop and even though they were walking behind them, they still managed to make a gap between them that only laughers coming from Jeno and Mark could be heard.

“It’s melting,” Jaemin, who was holding Haechan’s cup of ice cream, informed the read haired lad who was almost done eating the free cone he got from the man.

After taking the last bite, Haechan gleefully get the cup from Jaemin’s hands and the blonde could almost see the amount of sparks on his friend’s eyes from excitement.

_“Mo-mommy”_

Jaemin and Haechan immediately stopped from their tracks and after realizing that they both did the same action, they looked at one another as having a small ‘did you hear that’and a ‘yes, I did’.

Mark and Jeno, who noticed the sudden stiffness from the duo, also stopped talking and remained silent but at the tip of their tongue, they want to ask what’s wrong.

“ _Mom_ …”

‘It’s a child,’ Haechan thought and immediately scanned the whole area to look for the source.

When his eyes landed in the small park just besde the road they were taking, there he saw a young boy who was by the swing, and a hand was curled into a fist while rubbing his eyes. Haechan did not even hesitated and quickly ran towards the crying boy.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Haechan spoke in a soothing manner as he knelt down in front of the crying child, softly removing the wet bangs of the child that was covering the tiny boy’s eyes with his free hand.

The rest of the guys quietly followed where Haechan ran off too and worry was clearly displayed in their faces when their eyes landed on the kid.

Jaemin, on the other hand, felt his breath hitch. It’s like something was struck in his throat after seeing the situation in front of him.

Everything feels so nostalgic yet different at the same time.

The young boy reminds him of his nightmares. Reminds him of the young boy crying and calling out for his mother.

It’s almost as if the boy was a mirror of the boy in his dreams.

_A mirror of his young self._

He remained glued on the spot, just beside Haechan. He doesn’t know what to say nor does he know how to act. All he could do att he moments was fix his gaze towards the crying boy.

The kid was looking down on the ground, ignoring Haechan’s soft interrogation, and continued to release small sobs.

“Shh, can you tell me where your mom is?” Haechan asked again and this time, the question seemed to catch the boy’s attention which made him cry louder than before.

“Yah! You’re scarring him!” Mark, who knelt down on the opposite side of Haechan, softly caresses the boy’s head which he believes that will help the small boy calm down.

Haechan rolled his eyes at Mark’s remark before looking at the child one’s again. “Don’t cry, here, you love ice cream right? You can have this!” Haechan brought the cup of ice cream in front of the child to show him the delicious treat. Thankfully, the boy clamed down and accepted the cup without doubts.

Well, he’s just a child after all.

Haechan was too engrossed in comforting the child, staring at those glassy orbs softly with a pleasant and comforting smile on his lips that he did not notice the guy beside him staring at him intently.

Jaemin closed his eyes and inhaled an amount of air briefly, bringing one of his palm right into his clothed chest and massaged it in a subtle manner.

Jeno, of course, noticed Jaemin’s indifference and he couldn’t help but feel like something is wrong with the blonde lad. He wanted to ask if he’s okay, not that he’s supposed to care, but he could see Jaemin getting pale and this is not the first time he saw this unusual behavior. If he were to assume, he might think Jaemin would faint anytime soon but then again, he’s clueless and Jaemin could just be tired.

There was a few minutes of silence in the whole area and the sobs finally died down. No one dared to speak again, afraid that it might cause the child to bawl his eyes out once again. Haechan, this time, replaced Mark’s hand on his own, continuing to pat the child’s head with care.

After a lingering silence, the child finally decided to speak and this time, Jaemin’s attention was caught. “My mom,” the child started with hesitation. There were a few hiccups coming out from the tiny lad which made Haechan bring his palm into the child’s back. “My mom, she’s sick.”

After that statement, the child was about to cry so Haechan quickly engulfed the boy in a hug, still bringing his palm in an up and down manner into the child’s back. “She- she-,“ the child swallowed what seems like a lump formed in his throat before continuing. “Daddy said she’s gonna die.”

The four of them remained quiet, not really sure on what to say to comfort the child. What’s worse is that it’s already dark and they don’t know a much comfortable place to bring the child into.

Finally, Jeno decided to speak up, making a step forwards towards the child. “Can you tell me how ill you mother is?”

“Da- dad said she-sha has a tho- thocy- thocytopenia,’ they could sense that the child was having a hard time pronouncing the term, ‘a-and we need money to sa-save her but daddy said we-we can’t afford it,” the child managed to eplain in between hiccups and when those words flew out from his mouth, Haechan couldn’t help but feel emotional with the situation that his eyes became teary but he forced it to go away by blinking up in the sky. 

Despite the kid not being able to correctly say what his mother is fighting into, Jeno already has an idea.

_Thrombocytopenia_. It is a condition were one’s blood has a low count of platelets and they are indeed fatal if not treated. It’s not really a rare illness but it’s also not that easy to cure either. There’s no exact medicine for this up until today despite the heavy advancement in the medical field because it still requires blood tranfusions which is not that easy to find anymore because the population has been growing rapidly which means a lot of people are also looking for it, unless they have something that will suddenly boost the platelets of the person.

“Kid, for now, let’s get you home okay? Everything will be okay.” Mark broke the silence and asked the young boy who was he with. The boy then told them that his father is a waiter at one of the diner in the central and that they’re currently living in one of the worker’s apartment located at the said place.

The four of them then accompanied the young boy into the apartment and later told him that he must not wander alone since his father might have been worried and was looking for him. However, the child told them that he’s been used to going to the park everynight and that his father won’t be home until eleven. Also, their apartment is not really that far, in fact, it’s just a five minute walk to the park.

When they arrive, the boy bowed at them and thanked them, especially Haechan. Haechan was quickly taken aback when the kid ran into him and grabbed his shirt, making him bend down slightly and without any warning, the child kissed his cheek. Haechan’s eyes widened at that, since he never had someone kissing his cheek, let alone a child whom he doesn’t even know. However, his slight shock was quickly replaced with a giggle and he returned the gesture, making the child laugh.

‘See what a cup of ice cream can do?’ Haechan said at the back of his head.

The child then bid his final goodbye but before he could go inside, Jaemin called out to him.

“Hey kid, what’s your name?” Funny because that’s the first thing they should have asked but they forgot about it.

“Jimin, Kim Jimin,” the child answered and Jaemin nodded back curtly with a small smile.

~

The walk to the dormitory is a peacefully one. The four of them are silently enjoying the solace that the night brings upon them. Even Haechan and Jaemin were quiet during the walk and just listened to whatever sounds they could hear which are mostly whispers from the chilly breeze and sounds of wind gushing in the leaves.

Oh, and their footsteps were no exemption.

It was nearing eleven when they arrived at the dormitory. Mark and Haechan went ahead first, assuming that Jeno might still wanna talk to Jaemin one last time for the day, which is right since Jeno managed to tell Jaemin that he wants to apologize for the last time.

“Like I said, forget about it,”

Jeno briefly nodded his head, now feeling less guilty about what happened earlier this day. “Alright then, I guess I’ll get going.”

Jaemin nodded back and Jeno took it as a cue for him to leave.

When Jeno’s figure was totally out of sight, Jaemin heaved out a deep sigh and bent his head to the sides, making then release a small snapping sound. Finally, he felt relaxed and was able to breathe calmly again. He doesn’t know why but being close with the raven haired lad was not giving his heart any peace. He doesn’t know if it’s because he’s unconsciously nervous or what but he knows it’s doing him no good.

With a final sigh, he turned his shoes and went to his room.

⁑

Just like what Jeno expected, their work got a perfect score.

‘100’

It was written neatly and clearly on the screen where Professor Park showed the score of their first assignment. A small smile crawled towards his lips, a sign of content from the result he already knew that was coming. However, he alone will be the only one to have that score.

The thought made his smile fall in a matter of seconds and it was quickly replaced with a frown. He turned his gaze towards the side and saw his seatmate quietly reading a book.

Even though the assignment was a shared work, Mr. Park told them that they would grade their partners based on their contribution and that grade would affect Mr. Park’s overall grade to their work. Of course, Jaemin gave him a hundred but him grading Jaemin a fifty doesn’t quiet sit well with him. He’s perfectly aware – or that’s what he forced himself to be aware of – that Jaemin deserved a fifty and a fifty only, judging from the work he gave. Even though that flawless research work they made as a source was from Jaemin, it’s still wasn’t his work.

It was his father’s work.

But still, he think Jaemin should get a sixty at least. But there’s nothing really he could do about it since that was their initial plan all along. To give Jaemin a fifty.

Jaemin couldn’t focus on the book he’s reading knowing that someone was staring at him. At first, he decided to ignore it but as time goes by, he felt uncomfortable and little under Jeno’s eyes so he looked up from the book and raised his eyebrow at the president.

“A novel?” Jeno asked as he looked at the cover of the book Jaemin was holding. It has a big ‘Two Worlds Collide’ written on the front cover with a silhouette of a man and a woman hugging under the moonlight.

Jeno is not fond of reading such books, assuming that it is a romantic one, but what surprised him more is that Jaemin is the one reading them. The cold aura that comes out like a blue smoke from the blonde lad doesn’t seem to parallel with the hobby of reading books with romance as a genre so the whole idea of Jaemin reading them surprised and amused him at the same time.

“I never imagined you reading such thing,” he confessed boldly but Jaemin only replied with a small ‘same’ before returning his gaze towards the book.

Jeno doesn’t know what that reply even means but he came to a conclusion that Jaemin just doesn’t want to be disturbed at the moment. It’s not his personality to talk first but there’s just something about the blonde lad that intrigues him and surprisingly, he wants to figure it out.

When Professor Park began his lecture, Jaemin closed his book and turned his attention to the talking man in the front. Thankfully, he felt refreshed and his whole body is working just fine, just how he likes it to.

~

Since Haechan withdrew himself from the Statistics specialty class – more like kicked out – that means he has nothing else to do for the rest of the day, unless he’ll study for the upcoming test which doesn’t have any ounce of significance for him at the moment.

He was walking along the hallways of the academy, just strolling around wherever the wind will bring him. He could go back to the dormitory but there isn’t really anything interesting in there and he’s been sleeping all day during classes so resting is not an option for him.

He also has no friend either, except for Jaemin. Judging from his reputation, de doubt he’ll ever have another friend aside from the blonde lad. Not that Jaemin isn’t enough but there are just some days when Jaemin can’t be with him just like right now and he wishes to have a company.

Tucking both of his hands inside the pockets of his pants, he bowed his head down as he trudged towards the entrance of the academy’s garden. He hasn’t been in the garden before and in all honesty, he has yet to roam around the academy grounds. Ever since the rumors about him came out – which was the next day before he entered made a step inside Afrókrema, he wasn’t able to tour himself around the place. It’s not that he’s scared of what others think about him, he just hates trouble.

Ironic since he thinks trouble is his middle name by now.

He has a pride. Big or not, he still has it. That’s why he can’t keep his mouth shut whenever someone throws an insult at him. He’s also aware of how loud he could be when he opens his mouth, and by ‘loud’, he means smart-ass-intelligent-mouth. When someone insults him, he knows how to throw the insult back three times worse and that’s where the trouble starts. Just like what happened last on Jaemin’s first Sunday in the central with Yeonjun.

If it wasn’t for Jaemin, he could have had a bruise right now on his face, if Jeno really aimed to hit him. So because of this, he’d rather stay out of trouble. He’s not stupid to be unaware of how useless his body is when it comes to physical fights and as much as possible, he wants to avoid getting hurt.

_He’s been traumatised after all._

Without really thinking of a specific destination, he found himself in front of the garden’s fountain. He saw his reflection on the glassy water enclosed in the tiled ground. He’s beautiful, not in a narcissistic way, but Haechan is aware of his beauty. Of how his golden skin would glow when sunlight showers above him and with how his red tinted hair would stand out deservingly when he’s alone or when he’s in a crowd. His thoughts were halted when a large orange koi fish swam right into his reflection, making his image became hazy. He smiled at the sight of the little creature swimming towards the school of fish, which Haechan assumed to be its family and friends. Something that he doesn’t have.

As bitter as it may sound, he already accepted the fact that he won’t be getting any friends his entire college year. Well maybe not unless he’ll transfer to another school which he thinks would be impossible by now because of Jaemin.

Weirdly, he doesn’t want to leave the blonde alone. It also sounds stupid but he doesn’t want Jaemin to leave him either. Maybe it’s because Jaemin is his very first friend, aside from Jeno, which makes him a little possessive but in a good way. Jaemin’s a unique guy. He’s been telling himself that many times but every time he thinks about it, it still hits differently. It’s like Jaemin’s weirdness completely matches with his and he’s more than contented with that.

“Dumbchan,”

Haechan shut his eyes tightly in annoyance, mockingly anticipating the fact that his peaceful early afternoon is about to get ruined. Inhaling what seems to be a large amount of air, he turned his shoes to look at the owner of the voice.

“This is really annoying but Professor Byun ordered me to get you into his office,” an elite whom Haechan vaguely remembers as Mina from Logic Math class crossed both of her arms in front of her chest and raised one of her eyebrow, trying to look intimidating. However, Haechan doesn’t buy it at all.

Since he has nothing to do anyway, he thinks this could be a kill time. He simply nodded and walked pass through the girl, ignoring her small rants like ‘really disrespectful,’ which Haechan wouldn’t have heard if he doesn’t have a sharp hearing sense.

Arriving at the destination with Mina behind him, he knocked at the door first before opening it slowly, poking his head into the opened space.

First thing he saw was Mr. Byun’s big grin splattered on his face, looking back at him with his annoyingly cute puppy eyes. “Ah! Haechan! Come in, come in!”

He made a quick gaze around the room and realized that the professor is not alone. Just across his desk was Mark sitting primly, not even bothering to turn back to look at the new figure.

With respect, Haechan bowed his head slightly before bringing his whole body inside. Mr. Byun gestured him to take one of the vacant seats which was just a ruler apart from where Mark is sitting. Without hesitation, Haechan quickly made his way towards the seat.

“Thank you Mina, you can go now,” he heard Mr. Byun said as he dismissed the now smiling lady. Haechan would love to roll his eyes at the fake display but decided to just leave it alone.

“Alright!” Mr. Byun announced as he made his signature clasping of hands, creating a loud slapping noise in the enclosed area. “Now that both of you are here, Mark, I would like you to tutor Haechan here about our Logic Class.”

Both young male widened their eyes in surprise, clearly not expecting that kind of bomb. “As you can see, Haechan here is having a hard time coping up with the subject and I can’t afford to increase my chances of having a large number of students failing in my class.”

“Why me?”

“Why me?”

The two lads complained at the same time, making Mr. Byun emit a small chuckle, entertained at the reaction he got. “Okay, first of all, Haechan, you’re the one who needs help the most and Mark, I think you’re the only one who can scare this guy off.”

Mark scrunched his nose at that while the red haired scoffed, muttering a small ‘as if’ in the process.   
“Besides, it would be wonderful on my record if a B student will be able to pass this class,” Mr. Byun said as he leaned his back on his grey leather chair.

“No no, pull me out from your class. I don’t want anything to do with him,” Haechan pointed his index finger at Mark, as if accusing the older for something.

“Don’t you dare point a finger at me B, know your place,” Mark spats as he slapped Haechan’s finger away with a force, enough to make it go down.

The professor then brought his fingers towards his temples, massaging the spot to lessen his stress which came from the dog and cat in front of him. “Now now, I know I’m the friendliest professor out there but please don’t fight in front of me, and Haechan, you know it’s against the rules to pull someone out from his specialty class. That will automatically lead to a failing grade and you know what that means.”

Haechan then turned his attention back at the older, “first of all, you made it possible to pull me out from my Statistics class, and second, I would be honored to get kicked out from this goddamn school.”

Mark’s eyes widened at that, not expecting the outburst.

‘Mr. Byun pulled him out from Statistics? He didn’t want to study here?’ The question ran into his mind, making him recall the rumours about the tan male sleeping with an official to get to enroll in the school.

“Now now, you don’t mean that do you? I don’t think you would want to leave that blonde friend of yours alone here in the academy, he’d be sad.” Mr. Byun formed a small smirk on his face, he already knew this was coming so he made a plan beforehand which is to throw Jaemin’s name in the argument.

And just like what Mr. Byun expected, the mention of his friend seemed to hit a spot since the red haired male suddenly calmed down.

Haechan closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, now really knowing what to say. It took him a few seconds to open his mouth again, and this time, with a tone of defeat. “Alright, I will pass okay? But I don’t need a tutor, I can learn by myself.”

“With due respect Mr. Byun but I also don’t have extra time to tutor Haechan, I’m currently preparing myself for the competition and I can’t afford any disturbance right now,” Mark reasoned out but only to earn a few shakes of head from the older male.

“I’m completely aware that you need more time to prepare yourself but look at the bright side, you’ll be able make a self-review while tutoring Haechan.” He paused before turning his gaze to the red lad once again.

“As for you Haechan, I won’t take a no for an answer and starting next Tuesday, you’ll be joining us in our extra study sessions. I’ll be having sessions with the potential candidates for the competition while I’ll be giving you extra worksheets not only for Logic but for everything. I saw your results in your Algebra class and you’re not improving.” Mr. Byun’s mood suddenly turned serious and intimidating, just like how he was on their first day in their Calculus class.

Sharp and scary.

‘Moody’ Haechan though as he rolled his eyes, and the change of aura left him no choice but to accept the arrangement.

As if on cue, the door to the room suddenly opened which made the three heads turn towards the direction, revealing an abnormally tall man whom is the current Aerospace Engineering professor. “Babe, let’s go ho- oh, am I disturbing something?”

The newcomer scanned the faces of the two students before landing his eyes on the petite professor. He noticed the indifference between the man’s orbs which made him frown. “What’s wrong?” the tall professor asked as he made his way towards his ‘babe’. When he reached the side of Mr. Byun, he placed his large hands on the smaller’s waist and made him turn towards his direction. He then cupped Mr. Byun’s face before placing small peck on the shorter’s forehead, not bothering to care that there are two students around in the room.

“Stop, can’t you see there are two students in front of us?” Mr. Byun hissed but the tall professor only chuckled.

“Relax, it’s only Mark and Haechan,” he said before placing another peck, and this time on Mr. Byun’s cheek.

“Chanyeol,” Mr. Byun warned which made professor Park put both of his hands in the air.

“Okay, okay, jeez, who pissed in your afternoon snack?” He asked jokingly, caressing Mr. Byun’s head to make the older.

Mr. Byun muttered a small ‘who else?’ under his breath, not trying to remove Mr. Park’s hand as it does soothes him.

Haechan suddenly felt awkward with the display of affection in front of him and he’s pretty sure Mark does too since he found the silver haired guy trying to divert his eyes anywhere except for the pair in front of them.

“Yah Haechannie, you should stop being so hard headed, you’re giving my wife so much stress,” Haechan suddenly felt taken aback with the nickname his Aerospace Engineering gave him. He doesn’t know why but Mr. Park is being too friendly towards him since last week on their first session. Not that he doesn’t like it but he finds it quiet odd. Even the rest of the students in the room gave him questioning stares when Mr. Park suddenly squished his cheeks out of nowhere in the middle of lecture.

‘Maybe it’s because we both have the same hair color?’ he thought which he knew is utterly nonsense but he couldn’t find any other reason why the teacher is being good to him.

_And wait, did he say wife?_

“Let’s just go,” Mr. Byun announced, arranging his table and turning off the computer in front of him. “Mark, Haechan, I expect good news from both of you,” he stated coldly without even looking up. Haechan stared at the petite professor and find it quiet odd how his demeanor suddenly changed.

Mr. Park, who seemed to read what’s on Haechan’s mind, extended his arm towards the sun kissed skinned male and ruffled his hair. “Haechannie, don’t think too much,” he said with a chuckle. “And you Mark, I expect you to take care of my favorite student.” Haechan knew that was a joke but he couldn’t help but feel like Mr. Park meant it. That he’s his favorite student and that Mark should take care of him.

_‘But why?’_

Mark grunted in response making Mr. Byun hit Mr. Park’s arm lightly.

“Oww, why you hit me?’ Mr. Park pouted cute while rubbing the part where his lover hit him, acting hurt.

“You’re scarring my baby,” Mr. Byun answered as he rolled his eyes at the overreacting male beside him. It’s a lie if Haechan would say he’s not confused. It would also be a lie if he didn’t find the interaction cute. For some reason, Mr. Park and Mr. Byun looked like his ideal couple and he feels lucky to see such rare intimacy from two of the feared professors in the academy. With a couple more joke threats that was thrown to Mark, which were of course, from Mr. Park, Mr. Byun finally decided to shoo them out of the room, leaving them standing outside the door with mouth slightly gaping.

‘Okay, what just happened?’ Haechan asked particularly to no one since he really didn’t voice the question out. His thought came into a halt when Mark, who just beside him, decided to speak.

“Just so you know, I don’t want to do this but I have no choice,” Mark said before turning around, starting to walk away. But before he could take further steps, Haechan called out to him making him stop form his tracks.

“Wait, why don’t we just make a plan? We tell Mr. Byun we’re doing the tutoring sessions but we won’t really do it,” it sounds ridiculous but right at the same time. Mr. Byun won’t even know.

Mark turned round to face him and gave him a ‘you-are-really-dumb’ look before opening his mouth. “Then what? You fail the subject and they’ll think I’m not good tutor? No thanks.” After those words came out from his mouth, he continued on his way, not even waiting for the tan male to answer back.

Haechan could only scoff in return, pissed by how the older sounds so overbearing as if he’s the only one who hates the arrangement. If Haechan knew better, he knows he hate it more than Mark does because he hates trouble and being close to Mark means that way because of Donghyuck. Donghyuck did warned him after all. Not that he’s scared or anything but prevention is always better than cure right?

With a sigh, he turned his body towards the opposite direction, ready to go back to the dormitory.

_‘I can’t wait to tell Jaemin what happened.’_

“Where the fuck are you going?”

Haechan almost looked like he froze after hearing Mark’s loud voice echoing in the hallways. Slowly turning head around, he saw Mark at a distance looking at him with annoyance and impatience.

“What?” Haechan answered back with confusion written on his face. He saw Mark doing a rubbing his palms on his face before ruffing his hair in what seems like frustration.

“Our tutoring session Haechan, tutoring session.” Mark emphasized the last two words in a prolonging manner, almost like he wants to drill the words into the red haired lad’s skull.

“You did not say we’d be doing it right now!” Haechan reasoned out, slightly raising his tone as he walked towards the older. Mark, however, only gave the younger a stink eye before moving his feet again. Haechan doesn’t have a choice but to follow where Mark was going and did not bother asking.

~

Mark and Haechan ended up going back at the dormitory. At first, they were supposed to have the tutoring session at school’s library but the current place was packed, maybe because students have to study for the upcoming exams so they had no choice but to use the small study in their dormitory.

Haechan have never been in the small room before. Assuming that elites would be using the place, he tried his best to avoid getting near the area. The whole interior amazes him as it was designed in an anti-modern way. The walls were wainscoted, white oak walls panelled in the entire partition and the floor, just like the wall, it was made up of oak wood. There were big wooden bookshelves attached in the walls, a big globe on top of a table seated at the center of the space, and lastly, the fireplace made up of red and brown stones that was placed at the front of the brown couch at the corner of the room. Everything in the room was designed according to his liking and he’s starting to regret about not making the place his and Jaemin’s territory.

“I don’t have all day,” Mark’s voice echoed in the small room. He was already seated at one of the antique chippendale chair while grabbing some books from his backpack.

The red lad took a final glance at the surrounding before making his way towards the chair across the older. He was about to pull the chair when Mark’s stopped him from doing so.

“Sit next to me so, it’s more comfortable to teach you that way.” The older said while scanning the pages of the book that is now in in front of him.

The sun kiss skinned lad did not bother saying anything and just followed the directions, apparently not in the mood to argue, thinking that it would only ruin the peaceful condition of the room.

“Get a pencil, a paper and your calculator.” Mark ordered and he could almost see Haechan rolling his eyes at his peripheral vision but nevertheless, the younger obeyed.

After settling the three things in the table, Haechan leaned his back into the chair’s post, waiting for the older to give him some task or some heavy teaching.

“So I heard you got zeroes in all of your tests for the past two weeks except for the recent test you had in your Calculus, can you tell me why?” Mark asked as he looked at the tan male, placing the tip of his closed pen into his chin, making it as a support. 

“What do you mean why?” Haechan doesn’t know if he’s asking the obvious but he’s honestly confused as what Mark meant by that. Is he trying to ask him why he got zero? Cause if that’s the case, the answer is pretty clear.

Mark sighed and closed his eyes, trying to relax himself in the whole situation before opening them back again, with his mouth. “This would be easier if you had tried to answer the questions but according to Mr. Byun, you left everything blank. He even told me that you just sleep the entire period.” Haechan could feel the older getting frustrated minute by minute but was trying his best to go soft which is kind of a funny sight for him. “Is it because you haven’t had enough sleep at night? Is it because you’re not interested? Do you hate the professor? Do you hate the subject?” Mark paused for a while and looked stared at Haechan’s eyes which the younger found quiet intimidating, like he feels small under the older gaze. “Or is it because you’re completely aware that your brain can’t cope up with the writings on the board?”

And by that, Mark means to ask if Haechan already knows that the subjects exceeds the capabilities of his brain.

It’s an insult. Haechan knows. But instead of insulting the older back, he just smirked and met Mark’s challenging stare.

“Why don’t you figure it out yourself?”

“Ahh, I already expected this honestly. I know you’re not going to make this easy for me.” Mark broke their small eye-to-eye act and went to scan his book again. “Answer these for the meantime and I’ll check your answers in an hour.”

He picked a piece of sheet that was tucked in between the pages of the book and handed it to the red haired male. “You can ask me anything if there’s a particular part you don’t understand but if you don’t understand anything at all, I suggest you admit it now so you won’t be wasting my time.”

Haechan rolled his eyes at that but decided to keep his mouth shut.

Well not until his eyes landed on the writings of the paper.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he claimed as he stare at the paper with a perplexed reaction. Mark only gave him a question look, raising his eyebrow which indirectly askes the younger what’s wrong with the questions. “Mark, I can’t answer these, this!” highlighting the ‘this’ word, “is what waste of time is!”

Mark continued giving him the same expression, waiting for him to elaborate further his claim to which he just sighed back as an answer. “You know what, never mind.” Haechan grabbed his pen and notebook closer to him and started writing. Mark stared at the younger for a while before turning his attention to the other book beside him.

Fifteen minutes have passed and just like any other test Haechan had taken for the past two weeks, he barely got to reach number two. He managed to answer the first question with ease when his eyes landed on the second question, he decided to make a plan.

Instead of being a good tutee, he scribbled a lot of unnecessary numbers and letters in his paper, making it look like he’s tuning the gears inside his brain. Mark, who was busy doing his own thing, did not even bother looking at the younger’s paper, assuming that the lad is trying his best.

Not until he realized that Haechan’s already on his fourth paper, making it look odd since the questions he prepared didn’t require a lot of solutions. Without the younger noticing, Mark leaned his body towards Haechan’s paper, trying to glance at what the red haired male’s been trying to write.

“What the fuck is this?” he grabbed the younger’s paper in an instant, startling Haechan in the process as the paper which he’s been writing on was suddenly snatched from his table. “What the hell, you can’t even remember basic formulas?”

Haechan who was clearly annoyed at the disturbance, reached out for the paper on Mark’s hand which the elder raised higher to distance it form the younger’s grasp.

“Give it back Lee Mark,” Haechan said with a hint of warning. He hates it when someone disturb him. He really hates it. But what he hates more is when someone’s making his _efforts_ go to waste and with bad luck, Mark crossed those two things.

Without hesitation, he stood up from his seat to grab to make it easier for him to get the paper back, unfortunately, Mark did the same, even tiptoeing to make the paper go higher.

“What the fuck Lee, give it back!” Haechan could almost hear himself growling at the fact that the older is being stubborn. Not only that but also the fact that Mark is trying to decipher the writings on the paper. He can’t allow that. Never.

Out of instincts, Haechan didn’t realized that he’s been pushing himself near the prodigy, holding the older’s collar in the process to balance himself in trying to reach the paper, that if Mark will turn to look at him, their faces will only be an inch away, which Mark did.

“This isn’t even the formula for getting the area of the squa-“ Mark tried to hiss but his words came to a stop when he turned his face around.

All he could see is a pair of brown orbs staring back at his.

Haechan’s golden beauty is much clearer from this view and he may have not realized this before but the younger is indeed a disciple of the sun. He could almost feel the younger’s breath in his skin and he knows Haechan could feel his two, judging from how the said orbs widened, maybe upon realizing how close they are, how intimate their position is.

It seems like seconds turned into hours and their position remained the same, almost as if both are trying to read each other’s minds, trying to decode the words hidden beneath their eyes, trying to understand. Understand why their hearts are beating so fast when the world around them seems to freeze. Understand why they felt familiarity in each other’s eyes like their gazes already met like this once.

They don’t know who moved first but with a blink of an eyes, they were already far from each other. Not so far but not as close as before. Haechan’s gaze was already at the table, as if he found something interesting the in shiny wooden furniture, while all Mark could do is muster up a hem sounds.

Mark then went to take a seat again and examined Haechan’s paper for the last time – not that he still has the same focus as before – but he realize that it’s probably the best thing to do at the moment judging from the awkward silence that enveloped the whole room. Haechan followed his movement, sitting back to where he was seated before but his eyes were still glued on the table.

Haechan felt his cheeks heating up which made him silently pray that Mark won’t notice his face flushing in red. Not only that but his ears as well, he could feel them having a tingling sensation due to unwelcomed heat and he doesn’t know why but he blames it on embarrassment. The occurrence were clearly unexpected and he did not see it coming, and at the back of his mind, whether he admits it or not, Mark Lee is handsome.

Mark, for the second time, cleared his throat and this time, it was to get the younger’s attention. “All the formulas you’ve written here are wrong and made no sense to the questions I gave you. They’re not even related at all.” Haechan expects the older to be confused and asked him about the writings but instead, the look on Mark’s face is telling him that he did not get anything right. Telling him that he’s really dumb for not even getting the formula for the area of the square right.

The silver haired lad heaved a deep sigh before writing something on the paper, which Haechan assumes to be the correct formulas. He wants to tell the prodigy that he doesn’t need them and if he does, there are surely a lot of books in the small study that could provide him the right notes. However, he just waited for the older to finish, roaming his eyes around the papers and book on the table, including Mark’s.

And there, just beside Mark’s right elbow, is a paper that contains a figure which is too familiar for his own liking. Mark was too focused on writing that he did not notice Haechan grabbing the paper and before he know it, the younger lad suddenly chuckled.

Mark looked up from the paper and saw the younger staring at the paper, his paper which contains the ten difficult questions from the entrance exams, with a smug on his face.

“Don’t look at them, your mind can’t take it.” He commented before returning his attention to Haechan’s paper.

“You only got three out of ten right?” the younger asked, placing the paper back at the table but his eyes still lingering on the questions.

Upon hearing the question, Mark snorted in response, visibly annoyed at the statement, or maybe at the younger. “Seriously, you’re going to ask me that now?”

Haechan laughed at the older’s answer, not because he was amused but because he knows what Mark meant by that. It’s about their very first meeting in the academy. Haechan remembers that day as clear as the blue sky because that’s also the very first day after nine years he met Jeno again.

_He remembers himself getting excited of the fact that he’ll be able to meet the ‘Math Prodigy’ who was rumoured to be the same age as him. Not that he’s fond of celebrities but he has a lot of questions he wanted to ask with the said prodigy at that ime like ‘how did you do it?’, ‘can I know the answers of the difficult questions?’, ‘isn’t math boring?’. However, his expectations were – as how he described it, ‘ruined’, when he saw the big screen at the entrance hall of the academy, listing the results of the top students in the entrance exams by topics. Of course, he quickly darted his eyes on the Math category, only to be disappointed._

_‘Lee, Minhyung – 93’_

_Mark did got the first spot in Math, and honestly, it’s not really that disappointing since he, himself is completely ware of how hard the difficult questions were and he partly blames himself for having a high expectation which is for the said ‘Math Prodigy’ to at least get a ninety-eight. Well, since Mark earned the title, it was needless to say that Mark perfected the easy and the moderate question which left him having three out of ten in the difficult questions. However, Haechan’s hope did not end there. At the back of his mind, he’s forcing himself to believe that maybe, just maybe, Mark shaded the wrong choice or became too complaisant that he did not bother to recheck his final answers which made him got seven items wrong so_

_With great timing, Mark Lee, together with his friends, arrived at the entrance hall and the students who were there quickly congratulated him for earning the top spot and also for winning the Math competition three times streak which were during his sophomore, junior and senior year in high school. With courage, he went directly to the older, ignoring the stares and whispers that were directed to him._

_When he was already in front of the older, Mark greeted him with a small smile, maybe expecting a ‘congratulations’ from him but he doesn’t know how squander and with the small amount of nervousness bubbling in his chest, he couldn’t muster up to return the smile but instead, he cut corners and just let his mouth do the work._

_“You only got three out of ten in the difficult question?” Haechan really wanted to slap himself at that moment because that’s not the question he’s supposed to ask. He was supposed to ask questions like ‘did your calculator ran out of battery in the middle of exams?’ but then again, he’s a direct person and he couldn’t control his mouth sometimes and that includes that moment. He really did not mean so sound insulting but he knew he screwed it up when he saw Mark’s smile slowly faltering until it became a scowl. Getting a ninety-three out of one hundred sounds amazing and praise-worthy but getting a three out of ten sounds pretty low especially coming from a ‘prodigy’ so Mark must have felt shame at that moment, judging from how he insulted back immediately after he learnt of Haechan’s name._

_“You only got seven percent out of one hundred in the entrance exams?” Mark asked back and at first, he was shocked and felt dumb-founded as to how the elder is aware of his result. As if the older can read his mind, or maybe it was because of how his jaw dropped at the question, Mark moved closer to him until they were barely inches away and touched his identification card with his fingers which was pinned on the chest part of his shirt._

_“Lee Haechan, I wonder you managed to enrol yourself here,” Haechan thought it came out as a whisper but hearing the loud gas from the students surrounding them, he knows Mark said it louder._

And that’s how their feud started. Mark hates Haechan for trying to humiliate him while Haechan hates Mark for voicing out his exam results in the entire student body. In Haechan’s defence, he really didn’t mean to come out as offensive, he really didn’t, but he was misunderstood and he totally understands why the older felt insulted but the damage brought on each of them was on his favour. Ever since that day, he became the target of the bullies, he heard some foul rumours about him going around and most of all, he couldn’t find friends. Again, he doesn’t really care what others think about him but on bad days, he just want them to shut up and mind their own business.

He even thought about apologising, deciding to say sorry to the older the next time they’ll meet but on their second meeting, Mark’s friends were with him and they started calling him ‘Dumbchan’. It wasn’t the silver haired lad to start the name but he joined them of course, and Haechan, of course, did not back down and insulted them back and that ultimately leads to goodbye apology.

Haechan chuckled upon recalling the ‘memorable memory’, thinking how a misunderstanding turned his and will turn his college years one hundred eighty degrees.

‘Or maybe just ninety,’ he thought, but that doesn’t really matter anymore. The damage has been done and he believes it wasn’t entirely Mark’s fault to begin with and besides, he already has Jaemin and the blonde lad is more than enough.

Haechan decided to ignore Mark’s mockery and just asked him a different question instead. “Did you figure out the answers of the rest of the difficult questions?”

Haechan did not expect the older to answer him but surprisingly, the older gave him the response he wanted but with a sigh of exhaustion. “The three questions I got right during the exams were numbers 7, 28 and 66. Now, I manage to get numbers 25, 31 and 73. That leaves numbers 2, 11, 34 and 49 unanswered.”

Haechan hummed in response, looking at the older who was staring at his paper seriously, as if trying to answer the unanswered question on his mind. He then thought about the numbers Mark mentioned. He recalled number 2 and 11 to be the hardest of them all, he thinks the difficulty of the said two numbers exceeds the doctorate level.

_But then again, no questions can’t be answered. There’s always a solution for every problem._

The sun kiss skinned lad didn’t have any more things to say so he just remained silent, waiting for the older to speak which came.

“You know, the entrance exams given to us were the same for the rest of the elite schools in Asia. No one got a score higher than four in the difficult questions.” Haechan doesn’t know why the older is telling him this but he nodded his head in response even though he deemed the information useless. However, something caught his attention.

“Wait four? So someone got four?” the tan male asked with disbelief.

Mark sighed again, and if Haechan counted correctly, that was third time since they arrived at the study. “Yeah, three guys and one girl from China got a four.”

When people titled Mark as the ‘Math Prodigy’ in their generation, he thought that means Mark is the smartest Mathematician in their age. He did not expect someone else to outdo the elder.

Haechan grew quiet for a couple of second, digesting the new information which is not really interesting for him but still, it might be useful in the future.

However, Mark on the other hand suddenly felt uncomfortable. He knows it was his fault for getting only a three in the difficult level but a part of him doesn’t really blame his mathematical capabilities, instead, he blames his over-confidence on that day and a part of him wants to tell Haechan about it that’s why he decided to speak up.

“You know, I would have gotten a five if my calculator did not malfunctioned on the last minute.”

Upon hearing the reason, Haechan turned his eyes to the older, this time, both of his orbs were widened in surprise.

Mark chuckled at the younger’s reaction before deciding to explain further. “I honestly regret answering the easy and the moderate questions first, if I did not leave the difficult ones for last, I would have scored more.”

‘So I’m right after all!’ Haechan thought but he could only gape at his tutor, wanting to tell him how stupid he was for making that stupid decision. Because in his part, he’ll always go for the hardest first.

“But still, I would have only gotten a five, numbers 31 and 73 were easy if only I had my calculator with me but I just answered number 25 yesterday and the remaining four numbers are still questionable especially numbers 2 and 11, damn they’re out of this world.”

The younger smirked at the older’s remark but decided to stay silent. He thought Mark will drop the topic after that but it was proved to be mistaken when the older continued. “Jeno got a six on Science though and he got the highest score in the entire Asia, however, he’s still yet to answer the remaining four.”

Haechan wondered for a moment. Wondering who made those questions and wondered if the maker has the answers. It’s quiet mazing for someone to be able to construct such questions and he wants to meet them and ask them how they did it. He might be apathetic towards a lot of things like studying but things like _these_ steals his interest.

For the remaining hours, Mark decided to make Haechan memorize a list of formulas he made and expected the younger male to memorize them by next week. The red haired lad wanted to protest but decided to just listen for now. Mark, on the other hand, returned his focus on studying some topics Haechan did not bother knowing, reverting back the peacefulness of the study.

It wasn’t until half past eight when Mark started cleaning his things and arranging the papers scattered in the table, signing that he’s done for the day. Haechan wondered for a minute if should speak up, if he should finally tell the guy something he’s been longing to say but was buried deep in his mind for quite some time now. When Mark stood up from his seat and readied himself to walk off, Haechan decided to finally say it.

“I’m sorry.”

The two simple words caught the prodigy off guard, halting his tracks to look at the younger who was still looking at the notes Mark had given him. Silence filled the air and Mark was starting to doubt if he heard the red haired lad correctly.

“What?” was all he could say, slightly confused about the situation.

The younger took a long breath before looking up, meeting Mark’s eyes. They both stared at each other for a couple of seconds before he broke it, turning his gaze to the wall across him.

“I said I’m sorry.”

Mark suddenly felt a slight tug on his chest, maybe the guilt he tried to deny and ignore for a few weeks now is coming back at him after hearing the younger’s apology. But then again, he can’t jump into conclusions as to what the apology is for. It could be for wasting his time or it could be for being hard-headed and annoying, so in a small voice, he asked the younger what it is about.

“For what?”

Haechan stood up from his seat and began arranging his things, placing them in his briefcase orderly to avoid the notes from getting crumpled. The older just stood on the ground, waiting for Haechan to explain what he was sorry for while eyeing the younger’s movements.

After the tan male finally locked his briefcase, he walked towards the silver haired lad, facing him with an apologetic look. “You know, what happened that day, the first time we met, I didn’t mean to insult you. That was plainly a question and I didn’t mean to offend you. Guess it just came off the wrong way so I’m sorry.”

Without giving Mark any chance to say anything, he placed a palm on the elder’s shoulder and patted it two times before walking away, walking out from the study first. Mark stood there frozen, still unable to digest the fact that Haechan didn’t mean to insult him on that day and this time, he knows his conscience won’t stop bothering him since he’s completely aware of the fact that he’s the reason why the younger has been bullied.


	8. Highway To Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We don't meet people by accident.  
> They are meant to cross our path for a reason."
> 
> -Unknown

|9,129|

It’s clearly lucid that he’s worried. Judging from the small glances he threw towards the sleeping male beside him, from the fake small coughs he emitted just to wake the tan male up, from stabbing Haechan’s side with his pen when professor Kim is not looking. It’s crystal clear that he’s been stressing over his friend who doesn’t seem to care about the exam sheet in front of him.

Today is a Friday, the last day of their preliminary exams and they are currently on their last subject which is Chemistry. He’s not supposed to care, he’s supposed to mind his own business and let Haechan do whatever he wants since the guy is clearly on the right age to decide for his own but he can’t help it. From the first day of their exams, from the first test they received, the red haired male slept all throughout of it – okay maybe except for Calculus and Algebra since he saw him scribbling down numbers in the solution sheet. However, that still won’t help him passing the other subjects. By now, he’s pretty sure Haechan would have a hard time making a comeback to make himself stay in the academy or not being able to make one at all.

But that’s also the thing. It seems like Haechan doesn’t care at all.

From Jaemin’s perspective, it’s plainly obvious that Haechan doesn’t give a damn about whether he’ll stay in the academy or get kicked out and that’s what he’s trying to figure out.

When the clock stroke its hour hand at two and its minute hand at five, the students started submitting their papers and to Jaemin’s surprise, Haechan was awake. He wasn’t even probably asleep in the first place. When Ms. Kim finally exited the room, followed by the rest of the students, Jaemin decided to have a small talk with his friend.

“Chan, do you want to leave the academy?”

Haechan, who was sitting down on his chair, felt silent upon hearing the question. It’s not that wants to leave and it’s also not that he wants to stay either. His only sole reason for wanting to stay is his blonde friend but sometimes, he feels like it’s not enough.

_And not that he’s being cocky about it but he actually thought about it the night before the examination week started and he doubts the academy will let him leave._

_They even broke the rules in the first place for letting him enroll despite not passing the exams._

Assuming that he will not be getting answers from the sun kiss skinned male, he exhaled a breath before speaking again. “Not that I mean to meddle but you know you can tell me anything right?”

Jaemin is completely aware that he’s being out of character but then again, he never really had any permanent friends before and from what he remembers from his very and only friend from nine years ago, he was a caring companion so maybe that’s the kind of friend he is, just barren from not having any acquaintance.

However, Haechan’s answer totally caught him off guard despite the small genuine smile plastered on the red hair’s face.

“You know you can trust me too right?”

Jaemin doesn’t know how to answer that. He knows Haechan doesn’t mean to turn the tables but maybe that is an indirect way of telling him the ‘there are things meant to be kept’ phrase. So all he replied was mustering a tight smile on his mouth.

A warm silence enveloped the whole room, only the noise from the halls can be heard, either it was the students talking or from the booming voice of professors coming out from the other classrooms. A silence shared with the duo is always comfortable and peaceful. It’s like they’re mentally connected and know that the quiet atmosphere is a sign that they do trust each other but the right time has yet to come to voice their secrets or worries out.

With a few more seconds, Haechan finally decided to break the silence, turning his face to Jaemin with a grin. “Why don’t we go to the arcade?”

Jaemin returned the grin, even much bigger than what the tan male showed. Both lads then left the room without hesitation.

⁑

“And that’s my third win!” Jaemin claimed, throwing a single fist in the air to show his victory which made the red haired male beside him roll his eyes. They were playing a racing game in the central’s arcade which was called ‘All Stars Racing Transformed’ as what is written in the poster above the technology.

“It’s not fair! This is like a game released a decade ago, how come you’re so good at this?” Haechan complained but Jaemin knows it’s not a mean remark seeing the smile on the older’s mouth so he laughed in response, eyes twinkling with ease and joy.

“I’m hungry,” Haechan announced as he rubbed his clothed tummy, also finally accepting defeat after his third loss in a row. Since Jaemin and him are saving stars, they couldn’t afford to play another round nor to play another kind of game. One game costs ten stars after all.

“Should we eat outside or go back to the dorm?”

The sun kiss skinned male gave his friend an exaggerating mortified look, as if the blonde spoke of something forbidden. “You don’t exactly expect me to wait for another hour to fill my stomach right?”

Jaemin chuckled at the older’s response before standing up from the comfortable gaming chair, stretching his limbs in the process by throwing both of his arms in the air.

“Why don’t we back to that café where I first brought you? You know, the ramen?” Haechan offered.

Jaemin on the other hand, was reminded of the unfortunate event that happened the first time he went there. Reminded of how he wasn’t even able to get a taste of the delicious-looking noodles served in front of him and of how he blocked Jeno’s kick when the latter was about to attack Haechan. Speaking of which, he thing the older is kind of an ass for doing that to his childhood friend.

“I really missed the ramen there and I’m craving for it,” Haechan continued, trying to persuade the blonde into agreeing with the idea but Jaemin thinks he doesn’t have to since he has no plan on rejecting the offer in the first place.

“Alright, let’s go.”

~

“Jaemin! Haechan!” The moment the paid stepped inside the tiled floor of the cafe, they were greeted with their what they call ‘acquaintance’ whom are their co-B students. Jaemin was a bit hesitant at first whether they should go and join them at their table but seeing how Haechan’s smile went wider at the invitation, he decided to just go with the flow.

“How are you man?” Dino asked Jaemin to which Haechan answered with a snicker.

“You guys literally just saw each other a few hours ago,” Haechan said which earned him a couple of laughs from the people at the table. Jaemin laughed along with the group but still answered the hanging question.

“I’m good, we’re good,” he said as he took a seat next to Dino since Haechan was dragged away by Beomgyu to sit next to him.

“That’s a surprise, exams killed all of us,” Jisu commented with a whine, locking her hair with her fingers as if showing them how the exams made her go crazy. “Calculus was a bitch!” She added.

After hearing the complaint, Haechan turned his attention towards the whining girl and raised his eyebrow at her. “Why?”

The whole table except for Jaemin, looked at Haechan as if he just asked a ridiculous question which made him look more confused. Silence filled their area and Haechan was starting to think he did something wrong so he decided to ask about it but Jaemin, who figured out the meaning behind their looks, beat him into it.

“He wouldn’t know, he was asleep the whole period.” He lied without looking up from the menu in front of him.

Haechan gave Jaemin a look of confusion, not really understanding what’s wrong. He was pretty sure nothing happened during Calculus since he wasn’t even asleep, he was just closing his eyes that time, thinking of some things he thinks was more necessary than the exam and he’s sure Mr. Byun didn’t do anything that time aside from giving and collecting their exam sheets.

“Haechan, the exam was difficult, in fact, even the A students and the elites found it hard.” Beomgyu explained for him.

“Not only that but I heard none from the A got a perfect score and only four from the Elites got them all right.” Dino added as he took a sip of the pomegranate juice seated on his table.

‘Oh,’ Haechan thought but the confusion on his face was still there.

“Mr. Byun is a considerate professor and when he gives exams like this, that means he must have been in a bad mood when making the questionnaire.” Speaking of bad mood, Haechan was reminded of last Tuesday when Mr. Byun’s personality suddenly went a ninety degrees upside down and if it wasn’t for Mr. Park, it would have been a hundred and eighty.

Haechan then took his time to look at the faces of the people in the table and realized that they’re all looking like it’s the end of the world, meaning, they must have done bad on their test. His eyes then landed on Jaemin and there is it again, the impassiveness on the blonde’s eye and how his face looks so bored. Now, he’s wondering how Jaemin did on the test.

He wants to ask but he thinks he doesn’t really have any right or shouldn’t have the audacity to since he didn’t even answer any questions from the test.

Minutes later, all of their orders arrived and they began eating peacefully, with conversation about different kind of topics thrown over the table. Giggles, teases, laughs and gulps can be heard in their area but the level of noise is not so loud to disturb the other diners.

When all of their stomachs got filled to the fullest and all of their plates became empty, Haechan got up from his seat and excused himself to the toilet. After a few second, Beomgyu followed the red haired male and Jaemin could almost see the teasing looks the others were giving at the blushing lad before completely making himself way into the bathroom.

Jaemin got curious but decided to let it go since he doesn’t think Beomgyu would do anything that could harm his friend and the blushing part is clearly stating the opposite.

After a few minutes of waiting, Haechan and Beomgyu finally returned from the washroom and Jaemin would have assumed nothing significant happened since Haechan look as calm as ever but that was proven to be wrong judging from the tint of red splattered on the other lad’s cheeks.

~

“Jaem, you need stars right?”

Jaemin was on his bed, sitting up while writing down notes on one of his big notebooks which was placed on his lap, just above the blanket. He looked up from his notes and turned to the sun kissed skin lad who was sprawled on his own bed, looking at the ceiling. He wants to ask the older what he’s up to this time but upon realising that he indeed needs stars to buy new books, he immediately nodded in affirmation plus voicing out a “yeah, I do”.

“I saw this flier earlier,” Haechan then stood up from his bed and went to grab something on his briefcase. After successfully getting something like a piece of paper, he went towards the blonde and handed it to him.

Jaemin accepted the paper and read its content in an instant.

“One day weekend job at Coconut Bistro?”

Jaemin raised an eyebrow as he looked up once again to meet Haechan’s gaze. “Yeah, apparently it’s the 12th anniversary of the said bistro tomorrow and they’re making everything tomorrow special so and since we just finished our exams, it’s expected that the place tomorrow will be packed and they need more hands.

“So you want us to take the offer?” Jaemin asked as he looked at the flier once again and saw the pay.

‘200 STARS’

“Well, no,” Haechan answered shyly, looking way from Jaemin while rubbing his palm on his nape. “You see, Coconut Bistro is located at the Afrókrema Beach and Beomgyu asked me to go to the beach with him tomorrow.”

‘Ah, so that’s what it is about,’ Jaemin thought, recalling the meaningful gestures exchanged by their acquaintance at the cafe. “So, you want me to third wheel on your date?”

Haechan immediately looked at Jaemin upon hearing the word ‘date’ and waved both of his hands in the air, facing the blonde. “No no, it’s not a date. He just wants to go there and he told me no one from our class that he’s friends with is available so I was like ‘why not?’. Besides, I know you won’t go to the beach without significant purpose that’s why I gave you the flier.”

“Alright alright, whatever floats your boat Haechannie,” the blonde said teasingly, forming a knowing smile on his mouth. “But you know, you can always go there without me, I wouldn’t mind.”

Haechan rolled his eyes from Jaemin’s teases before explaining his side, “I know but I don’t want you to be not there. Even though I won’t be enjoying the sea below the scorching sun with you, the idea of you being near is more reassuring.” He bit his lips from his bluntness, afraid that the blonde might think he’s being too clingy but to his surprise, Jaemin just let out a chuckle.

“I’ll go, I need the stars anyways.”

And with that, Haechan made a genuine and a grateful smile.

~

Jaemin just separated ways with Haechan and Beomgyu who were heading out to the seas shore while he’s heading to the bistro he’ll be working to.

It was still seven in the morning and what made them early is the note written on the bottom most of the flier that those who’ll be applying for the day must arrive at seven-thirty sharp for their short training. The bistro won’t open up until ten which means training won’t get in the way with the .business. Thankfully, Beomgyu was kind enough to understand the situation and went with Haechan and Jaemin on the very early morning ride.

Cononut Bistro is not what the place Jaemin expected to look like. When he thinks about a bistro by the beach, he thought it would be an enormous open restaurant with a big size aquarium tank displayed in the middle and of course, with different types of seafood in the menu. What he did not expect is for it to be made up of glass standing in the middle of the waters. It wasn’t big, it was rather a medium size . The floor was made up of transparent glass which can make the people see the green and blue corals under the water with school of fish swimming back and forth.

Turns out it wasn’t just Jaemin who signed up for the job. Soobin and Chaewon whom he recognized from the Psychology class were also there and some other students he doesn’t know, probably from the A class or the elites. They were given three hours to do train and Jaemin was assigned to be a waiter prior to his past experience of the said job when he was still in high school.

The whole place was divided into two sections, one was for the regular customers of the day and the other one was for the vip customers. It wasn’t a permanent arrangement, says the manager. It was just for the day of the celebration. The vip area was more elegant and more classy compared to the regular area. The whole place was designed with more effort and from the look of it, only students above the B class can afford them unless a B student wants to be broke the whole semester.

Fortunately for Jaemin, he was assigned at the vip area since the manager trusted skill and what makes him feel lucky is that the area has more access to the wonderful scenery of the vast ocean unlike the regular area which was placed at the front, facing the shore. Looking around, Jaemin realized that there were some reserved seats, some are big tables which he assumed are reserved from a group of people while some are couple tables which he assumed to be reserved for a date. Everything was prepared well and all he could hope is for him to not mess anything like breaking some plates or accidentally throwing food into the customer. 

Finally, three hours have passed and just as the bless rings, signalling the opening of the bistro, a few customers already made their way inside as if they’ve been waiting since morning for the restaurant to open up. Most of them were just regular customers so Jaemin decided to help in in the regular’s area first since his assigned area was still empty.

The customers were either workers from the central who took a day off, students from the academy he doesn’t recognize, professors from the different departments, and people who were wearing expensive suits which he assumed to be big people associated in the academy.

It was nearing lunch when the first vip customer arrived.

“I reserved a table under the name Suh Youngho,” the taller of the pair said. His hair was unusually long for a male, end reaching the tip of his collarbones and was dyed in blonde. On the other hand, the man beside the speaking man is familiar. Jaemin recognized him as the guy who always borrows a practice room in the Fine Arts building every Mondays and he is an elite. Jaemin recalls the shorter guy to have a very long name from what he saw in the records but he didn’t bother reading it and if he’s not mistaken, Mrs. Jung calls him ‘Ten’.

“This way sir,” Chaewon who was the assigned as the representative for the day, brought the duo into their table. Even though they were just co-students form the academy, the manager told them to always be formal to the customer and to give them honorifics. 

Not long after the first vips, another one came. This time, they were a group of five and Jaemin recognized them to be A students. Just like the first one, they were brought into their reserved table and by this time, Jaemin realized that all the tables in the vip area are actually for people who made a reservation beforehand.

After a few minutes, the taller guy from the first occupied table raised his hand, signalling that they were ready to order. Since the other waiter seemed to be nervous, Jaemin was left no choice but to be the one to go to the pair.

Arriving at the table, Jaemin tried his best to make his expression a pleasant tone since he’s aware of how impassive his eyes could be and the manager did inform them that they must always wear a friendly smile to make the customer feel welcomed and accommodated.

“Hello, I’m Jaemin and I’ll be your server for today,” upon hearing the introduction, the shorter guy looked up from the menu and met Jamein’s eyes.

“Jaeminiee! Nice seeing you here!” to say Jaemin was caught off guard was an understatement. He didn’t expect the older to recognise him and to act friendly with him judging from how they never spoke in the first place.

The guy with the long hair raised his eyebrow towards the shorter, then to Jaemin. “You know him?”

“Yes, he’s a working student in the Fine Arts Department. Mrs. Jung talks about him and his friend a lot.”

The information suddenly made Jaemin nervous for a reason. Mrs. Jung was friendly towards them but he didn’t think she’ll be talking about them to others. The friendly guy seems to notice Jaemin tensing up and then he realised what he just mouthed before shoving a hand to the younger blonde.

“Don’t worry about it, all she tells me is how well-mannered you are and your friend. She seems to like you both.” The shorter said with a grin. “Ah, you’re so cute with your uniform.”

Jaemin could only smile awkwardly at the compliment and his peripheral vision was able to see how the other guy rolled his eyes at the shorter’s statement. “Excuse me but can we make an order now?” the man sad with impatience and the shorter giggled cutely in response before extending his hand towards the other, pinching the man on the cheeks.

“Don’t worry, you’re the cutest baby Johnny.”

The couple bickered for a while, the man named Johnny whining about how it was supposed to be their date but his ‘partner’ is throwing compliments to random people while his ‘partner’ who was Ten giggled at his boyfriend’s pettiness and reasoned out that Jaemin is not a ‘random people’ and poor Jaemin could only stand in the middle, torn between giving the pair a few more minutes or should he wait but thankfully, Ten was able to comfort his lover and the duo finally made an order.

The whole area was peaceful, Jaemin could see Johnny and Ten flirting with each other non-stop which bought a smile into his face, liking the pleasant displayed affection in front of all the other customers and staffs and the other doesn’t seem to mind it because the pair was actually a popular couple in the academy.

The sun was about to set and the vip area was still packed and all the workers became busier in their assigned task. Not long after one of the big tables became vacant, a new group of customers came, filling the spot once again and this time, Jaemin very well recognized the group because it’s no other than Jeno and Mark’s groups. Fortunately for him, he’s still busy serving another table, making another waiter go to the newcomers.

Going back to the counter after bringing the food of the table he just served, he accidentally glanced at the table where the elites were seated and he was met with Jeno’s eyes staring at him with impassiveness and all he could do is give the older a small nod before turning his eyes to the counter.

Since he has nothing to do at the moment, he looked down on the floor and took the time to admire the species underwater. It was already dark but attached below the glass were water proof lights that will allow the people see what’s on the waters. He might not be a sea person but he’s ware of how beautiful underwater could be especially when it’s full of breathing mammals, reptile and amphibians. It also made him wonder how nice would it be to be able to breath under water.

After the small admiration, he turned to look at the crowded area once again and realize that there’s a one empty reserved table left which was placed in the middle, just beside where the elites were gathered. The table was for two so Jaemin assumed that it must be reserved for a couple. Unlike all the other tables, the remaining one was designed differently. It was more romantic and the color of the table cloth was different compared to the other ones. It has a blue one while the other have green. The flowers seated on the vase was also different compared to others. It has yellow daffodils while the others have blue sea hollies.

Jaemin excused himself to the bathroom for a while and not after two minutes of being gone, he was met by a surprising event happening on the dining area.

All eyes in the place was looking at the newly pair by the entrance who arrived and Jaemin could see how some are smiling, some are looking mad and some have looks of disbelief. If Jaemin knows better, he thinks all the frowns are a symbol of jealousy.

Looking back at the newcomers, Jaemin couldn’t help but form a smile which shows his upper teeth because the pair is no other than his friend who currently has a blindfold on, with Beomgyu on his side, one arm wrapped around his waist while the other hand holding into Haechan’s.

The manager and the representative went towards the pair with an excited smile displayed on their faces, helping Beomgyu in assisting Haechan into the table.

The only vacant table.

The one that was designed uniquely apart from others.

“I swear Beomgyu, if this is a prank, I’ll throw you in the ocean.” Haechan said loudly as he was struggling to walk freely due to his eyes being with blocked with a blue cloth. Jaemin could see Haechan’s ears reddening, maybe from nervousness and his hair was quite dishevelled for some reason. The lower half of his pants were wet and he could only guess that maybe his sun kissed skin friend went to the waters to play. Haechan wasn’t laughing, in fact, there was a small frown formed on his demeanour and a small pout on his lips. Jaemin wants to go near his friend to reassure him since he look so tense at the moment but he knew he could trust Beomgyu about it. 

Beomgyu chuckled at the red hair, still guiding the shorter lad in the destined table. “Trust me you’ll love this,” he said reassuringly, not slightly bothered with the number of eyes looking at them. Haechan did not answer to that and just patiently followed Beomgyu’s guide. Arriving at the desired table, Beomgyu slowly and carefully guided Haechan in one of the seats, helping the red hair to feel comfortable first. After the objective was met, he placed both of his hands on the blindfold.

“Alright, I’m going to take it off now but please close your eyes until then.” Beomgyu asked to which Haechan hummed in response.

Beomgyu then went to the opposite side, making himself seated at the other chair in front of Haechan’s. “Alright, you can take open your eyes now.”

Taking a deep breath, Haechan slowly opened both of his eyes and the sight completely shut his brain. Jaemin could see a lot of emotions passing in his friend’s orbs as he stared at the surprise in front of him. Beomgyu remained smiling, maybe trying his best to get some sort of positive reaction from the boy in front of him.

Haechan remained unresponsive, the only reaction Beomgyu got was his slightly gaping mouth but aside from it, there’s nothing else and this made Jaemin decide to move into action.

Without waiting for any signals, he walked towards the pair. Arriving at the now occupied table, Jaemin slightly nudged Haechan’s shoulders to wake the older from his daze. He then cleared his mouth before opening it. “Are you ready to order sir?” he asked, looking at Beomgyu who was now looking at the red hair with worry.

For the first time after the blindfold was removed, Haechan blinked his eyes, his thoughts disturbed by the waiter. Looking up, he realized it was no other than Jaemin and suddenly a wave of relief flashed over his eyes and Jaemin could see how his friend suddenly relaxed upon realizing his presence.

“Are you okay?” Beomgyu asked, both of his eyes were worry-filled and Jaemin could see how genuine the guy is. Haechan then looked at Beomgyu then to Jaemin then back to Beomgyu before answering.

‘I- I-,“ he stuttered before halting his words again. Jaemin then decided to fill Haechan’s glass with water and gave it to the older. Haechan hesitated at first but decided to take a small sip of the content, hoping that it would help him clam his nerves up.

A moment of silence filled the table once again and Jaemin decided to take it as a cue to leave. “I’ll come back later, please take your time.” He was about to turn his shoes but Haechan almost immediately grabbed his hand.

“No! I- I mean, I’m ready to order.” Haechan swallowed an amount of saliva he looked at the menu once again, letting go of Jaemin’s hand in the process. “I’ll, I’ll have this please.”

Jaemin nodded before listing down the dish Haechan pointed. After getting his friend’s wants, he turned to Beomgyu and asked for his orders. Beomgyu gave Jaemin small smile which seems to be a ‘thank you’ before saying his orders. After then, Jaemin left the pair alone and went to the counter.

Haechan stared at Jaemin’s retreating back before sighing and turned his gaze to the male in front of him. “Beomgyu, I’m sorry. I just- I just freaked out.”

Beomgyu, being bold, held Haechan’s hand which was sitting on the table and have it a squeeze. “It’s okay, sorry for surprising you like this.”

Haechan, startled at the sudden contact, immediately pulled his hand, also startling the guy in front of him. “I-I’m sorry.” He said in a hurry before placing his hand at the top of Beomgyu’s hand. “Gosh, oh my God, I don’t know how this works.” He muttered mostly to himself but still loud enough for the latter to hear. By now, he could feel warmth crawling from his neck up to his face and he blames it on embarrassment.

“Cute,” Beomgyu said with a chuckle which made Haechan grow redder than he already was.

It seems like Haechan wasn’t aware of the number of eyes looking the both of them has been getting until he hears a snicker from the table beside theirs. The sound of laughter suddenly made him felt conscious so he looked around as realised everyone’s looking at them. At him. If Haechan was alone, he wouldn’t care about the eyes that are glued at him with mockery. In fact he’d enjoy it until their eyes bleed but this time it’s different.

He’s with someone else and he doesn’t know why but something’s telling him he shouldn’t be having a date with Beomgyu.

It wasn’t a date. That’s what he told himself the very moment he accepted Beomgyu’s invitation. He thinks it’s normal to spend time with a friend and that’s what he’ll be doing. But judging from the ‘surprise’, he doubts it’s just a friendly hangout.

A few minutes have passed and finally, Jaemin came back with the food they ordered.

Haechan gave his friend a wide smile to which the blonde returned.

After the food has been settled in their table, Jaemin left them once again.

As they eat their food, they had some conversation about many things like getting to know each other, knowing each other’s hobbies, favourite past times, favourite subjects, travel experiences and many more. They were on their dessert when Beomgyu suddenly became serious, changing the topic into something Haechan was trying to desperately avoid. The latter then grabbed his hand for the second time, squeezing it while massaging his knuckles.

“So Haechan,” the latter said, clearing his throat as he tries to form the correct sentence on his mind. “I think I was being obvious the whole day.”

Haechan suddenly halted his movements and stared at the delicious-looking chocolate pudding in front of him. He didn’t dare look at Beomgyu, afraid that he might say something bad that will ruin the whole atmosphere. He could feel himself getting deaf at the silence. He noticed how the whole place suddenly became quiet as if everyone’s also listening to what Beomgyu’s got to say. He wants to stop the latter from speaking any further. He wants to tell him that they should leave the bristo and take their conversation somewhere but he can’t speak. His whole body is not cooperating and he just remained frozen.

“Please look at me,” It wasn’t a demand nor a desperate attempt but it was enough for Haechan to look up and meet Beomgyu’s hopeful eyes. “I really really like you Haechan and I know you feel the same way so,” Beomgyu stopped for a second and took a deep breath before continuing. “Will you be my boyfriend?”

Haechan’s eyes may be fixed at the latter but he’s not stupid to not realise how every living being inside the vip area were boldly staring and listening to their conversation. However, the fear he’s currently feeling is much greater than the urge to glare at the unwelcomed ears. The fear of losing a friend is beginning to crawl into his mind and all he could do is hope that Beomgyu will understand.

“Beomgyu,” he started. He could hear his voice cracking but that’s not stopping him from telling the truth. He’s an honest person after all. “I-I’m sorry.”

That’s all it takes for Beomgyu’s smile to turn into a frown. That’s all it takes for Beomgyu’s sparkling hopeful eyes to turn into a sparking tearful ones. The grip on his hand started to loose and before he knows it, his hand was complete released.

“I- this was all a misunderstanding. I don’t know why you think I like you but – I mean yes I do like you but only as a friend Beom, I- I’m sorry.”

“You’re giving me false hope all this time?”

“I- wait, what?” Haechan was suddenly taken aback with the latter’s accusation. Confused about the ‘hope’ Beomgyu is talking about. As far as he could remember, he never did anything that will make Beomgyu think he likes him.

“In the gym, you tended my scar! In the cafeteria, you feed me food with your own spoon! Then this, you accepted my invitation in taking you out!” Beomgyu’s voice suddenly became louder and he could feel the eyes staring at him like knives poking into the back of his head. He could hear daring whispers entering into his brain unconsciously which he forced to push away and just focus on what Beomgyu has to say instead.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“Stop,” Beomgyu said before he could even explain his side. He knows he doesn’t have to explain anything since he never wanted to lead Beomgyu into false assumptions but a part of him hopes that Beomgyu would understand that it was all just a misunderstanding on his part.

Silence filled their table for the nth time and before Haechan could speak anything, Beomgyu stood up and left the table, leaving Haechan with his mouth slightly agape, still not able to process what just happened. From playing in the beach with a friend to losing the same friend during dinner, everything seems to happen so fast for a short period of time. 

He was almost ready to consider Beomgyu as a friend. A real one. No one has ever invited him to do leisure activities before and it was his very first time in his twenty one years of existence to play in the beach with a ‘friend’. However, the thought of Beomgyu actually doing those things because he expected something in return makes him feel something heavy in the pit of his stomach. Everything was after all, a conditional favour.

Haechan was still deep in his thoughts about the friend he thinks he just lost when he heard the chair where Beomgyu sat earlier, getting dragged, making a friction sound on glassy floor. He turned his gaze from the chocolate pudding to the unwelcomed guest.

“What?” Haechan asked with a tone of disinterest, looking at Donghyuck with a stoic expression, the latter was crossing his arms on his chest, plastering a wide smirk on his mouth to portray his mock towards the red hair male.

“You’re really living up to your title as a slut huh?” Donghyuck asked, loud enough for everyone to hear. Though even though he did not mean to be loud, everyone was listening anyway, trying to eavesdrop in the conversation. “You know Haechan, if you need a sugar daddy, at least choose someone who’s not the same level as you. Poor Beomgyu, he must have used up all his stars to do this for you yet you just used him.”

That got Haechan scrunch his eyebrows, forming a frown on his demeanour. “Shut the fuck up Donghyuck, you don’t know the whole story.” He said with a hint or warning, his eyes slowly seeing red. Both of them did not say anything and only looked at each other eye to eyes, Haechan’s orbs filled with anger while the other lad is filled with provocation, pushing the button of the sun kissed skin male. Before Haechan could completely turn his emotions into rage, he stood up from the table, readying himself to leave.

To avoid fighting.

“Running away?” Donghyuck called out, also standing up from the chair. Haechan froze on his spot, his back facing the latter. He took a deep breath to calm himself, to stop his mouth saying something that =could worsen the situation, before turning around to face Donghyuck.

But the moment he made a turn, his face was greeted with the chocolate pudding he wanted to devour earlier. He could hear his breath hitch at the sudden impact and and all he could feel was the greasiness and the warm temperature of the dessert which was now splattered on his whole face.

Mark suddenly appeared beside Donghyuck, grabbing the male’s hand which was holding the plate that contained the now wasted dessert. Haechan didn’t even realised that the math prodigy was in the room until he tried stopping Donghyuck from his drama.

“Hyuck, stop,” Mark said in an audible whisper and Haechan could only mentally cringe at the awful nickname. However, Donghyuck did not stop and Mark’s attempts in dragging the latter away from Haechan failed.

Donghyuck pulled his wrist harshly from Mark’s hand and turned his attention to Haechan once again. “Don’t stop me Markie, this slut here humiliated you in your first day here in the academy right? We need to teach him a lesson.”

Everything happened so fast and Donghyck’s scheme was pretty unpredictable that Mark wasn’t able to stop him from pouring the content of the wine bottle in Haechan’s head.

Loud gasps were heard when the act was made and more laughter echoed in the whole room.

“What the hell Hyuck?!” Mark said as he immediately grabbed the bottle from Donghyuck’s grasp, wondering why he did not notice the thing hiding on his ‘lover’s’ other hand. 

Haechan slightly shivered when the cold red liquid went down from his scalp down to his neck then proceeded to get soaked into his shirt. Suddenly he felt humiliated. He felt exposed. But despite the embarrassment, he tried his best not to cry. Despite the murmurs he could hear around him, despite the laugh the people made as if their enjoying a comedy movie, despite the tears that were threatening to fall from his reddening eyes, he only scrunched his nose forcefully and swallowed the big lump formed in his throat and looked at Donghyuck with a piercing gaze.

“You really don’t choose a place to show how low you are, aren’t you?” Haechan asked lowly but the amount of venom behind those words are crystal clear yet Donghyuck remained unfazed and only scoffed in mockery.

“Look who’s talking. If there’s someone low between the two of us, that’s obviously you Haechannie.” Donghyuck took a step forward closer to Haechan and just as he was about to push red haired on the ground with both of his palms, he suddenly felt a strong grip on his wrist, making him halt his movement.

“What the he-“ Donghyuck turned his head to the side to look at the intruder, ready to throw profanities for disrupting his ‘fun’ however, he was greeted with cold, impassive eyes that brought shivers down to his spine. He could only gulp as a sign of fear, almost immediately pulled his other hand away from Haechan.

“Stop,” was the only word that came out from Jaemin’s mouth but his eyes held so much words and Donghyuck may not hear them but he feel them piercing through his skin. Everything suddenly became motionless and the time seemed to slow down for all of the people witnessing the event.

Donghyuck, who has so much pride in him, yanked his wrist from Jaemin’s hand and laughed but everyone could hear the nervousness and the crack in his voice. Everyone knows he’s trying his best to not get intimidated which he already failed to do so. Realising that no one’s laughing along with him, his fake guffaw died down bit by bit until a deafening silence filled the air once again.

Not wasting any seconds, Jaemin turned to Haechan and grabbed the older’s hand, dragging him out from the bistro.

⁑

“I’m sorry I was late.”

Jaemin and Haechan were by the shore, sitting down in the sand where their backs were rested against a gigantic rock that was seated just a few meters away the waters. It was already dark and stars were slowly appearing bit by bit in the vast deep blue sky. The whole area was in a solace atmosphere, making the two young men enjoy the sounds coming from the waves.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Haechan answered as he threw a piece of sea shell into the waters which made a small cripple effect before it got dragged into the depths of the sea. “In fact, I should thank you for letting me borrow this,” Haechan then looked down on the shirt he was wearing making Jaemin follow the gaze.

Luckily, Jaemin brought an extra shirt, allowing Haechan to change the shirt he was first wearing which was not splattered with chocolate and drenched with red wine.

The blonde responded with a smile before turning his attention towards the wonderful scenery in front of him. To say he was guilty was an understatement. After he brought Haechan and Beomgyu’s orders at their table, the manager told him to go to the regulars area since it was more busier there and they need extra waiters so, without any hesitation, he followed the order and consciously trusted Beomgyu that nothing will go wrong.

And that was a mistake.

Thankfully, Soobin went to him and told him about the commotion, making him quickly dash to his red hair friend, leaving the table he was serving.

He’s aware that the sun kissed lad is a tough guy. But he also knows that no matter how tough a thing is, they still had their breaking point and that’s what worries him. Haechan may look calm but he did not fail to realize how the spark in his friend’s eye disappeared and how the corners of his mouth were tugged downwards and that’s all it takes for him to know that his friend is not okay. So he decided to leave his comfort zone and stood up from the yellow sand where he was seated, brushing off the tiny bits that were glued into his pants before reaching his other hand towards the red hair.

“Let’s go for a swim,” Jaemin said with a smile. A smile that indirectly says ‘come on let’s make you feel better’. Haechan looks at the then at Jaemin, seemingly hesitating whether to accept the offer or not but after a mini debate with his mind, he finally held the hand.

Both lads took their time to swim, float, and even played tag in the waters, creating laughers that goes along with the sound created by the sea. They were having a good time, too much good time that they failed to realize the few pairs of eyes looking at them from a far.

Just a few distance away from them were built floating cottages for people in the academy to make reservations into if they wanted to have a small time away from reality. They were like small huts that were neatly designed with hung leaves and plants, making them look like they are houses that belong to the beach.

“They’re definitely in love with each other.” a male with pale skin and hair dyed with light orange, commented as he looked at the pair from the cottage’s balcony.

Another figure who was much smaller than him, smacked his head lightly before answering. “Stop staring at them Chenle.”

Chenle placed a small scowl in his face, rubbing the spot that was hit with the tips of his fingers. “You’re staring at them too Injun!” He complained.

It’s true. They’ve been staring at the duo for a while now, amused with how two guys are having fun taking a swim at the cold waters and not only that but the fact that it was almost winter season makes the view more funny to watch.

“I wonder, how come they look so carefree as if they didn’t went through the exams.” Another guy, this time taller than the two, joined in the conversation as he handed Renjun a can of lemonade.

Renjun rolled his eyes at the question before opening the can and took a small sip. “That’s what we’re doing too you know,” he said after swiping the corners of his mouth with the back of his palm. The taller man then grabbed Renjun’s waist carefully and slowly and placed him in front of him, his chest now flushed against the shorter’s back. 

Chenle rolled his eyes at the small intimacy but gave it no mind since he’s already used to such act. Renjun and Lucas were the first couple in their group, started in high school and still going strong until now. Everyone in the academy knows about the couple especially since both of them came from a well-off background. Lucas’ parents own the biggest sport clothing line in China which also expands in Europe and US and not only that but Lucas himself is also the face of their company. Renjun’s parents, on the other hand, owns various nuclear plants that spreads throughout the entire Asia and being the only child, that means he’s the heir of their corporation. Their relationship is no secret to their families nor to the public, in fact, they have all the support they think they need.

“I mean, this morning, I went to the Science department and Ms. Kim was in a bad mood due to one of her students from B class getting a zero. Turns out that student is Haechan.” Lucas explained as he placed his chin into his boyfriend’s head, taking advantage of the wide height difference.

Chenle ponders for a moment after hearing the information from the taller and as if he recalled something important, he snapped his finger before speaking. “That’s right! You guys remember Yena? That working student from the Math Department? She told me that Haechan got a zero in Mr. Byun and Mr. Kim’s exams!”

Mark, who was lying down in the hammock hung at the other side of the balcony, suddenly opened his eyes upon hearing the information. He was trying to rest his mind, releasing the heavy stress he’s been dealing with for the past few days due to the pressure of the incoming completion that’s giving him. He wasn’t listening to the conversation his friends were having but the mention of his tutee getting zeroes caught his attention.

“Didn’t you have a tutoring session with him Mark?” Jeno asked, not looking up from the wine of glass he placed in front of his eyes as if inspecting the small bubble floating in the content. The cottage wasn’t really that big and it has no other rooms so everyone could hear and see everything that’s happening inside.

Three heads turned into the lying male, waiting for an answer, however, Mark remained silent for a while, trying to think of some reasons as to why the B male would get a zero. He was sure some of the formulas he gave to the latter can be used in the test and it’s not even that hard to apply them in the problem. Not unless Haechan did not memorize them like what he told him to do.

“Did he tried answering them or did he left everything blank?” Mark asked, turning his attention to Chenle.

“Apparently, he left the answer sheet blank but the solution sheet was full of formulas that are out of this world.” Chenle answered, telling Mark the information he got from Yena.

Mark thoughts became deep, recalling the events that happened during their session. That also happened, Haechan writing wrong formulas like he doesn’t know anything right. He doesn’t even know the basic formulas like getting the area of common shapes so now, he’s came to a conclusion that maybe the red hair is a hopeless case.

‘If he’ll continue being like this, he’ll surely be kicked.’

_“Jaemin!”_

The whole cottage suddenly became quiet that they got to hear Haechan calling out for his blonde friend. Chenle, Renjun and Lucas were already back facing the open balcony, making the event happening to the pair go unnoticed.

_“Na Jaemin this is not a funny joke!”_

Haechan suddenly sound like he’s on the verge of tears, making the five lad snap their head towards where the two B students are.

_“Jaem!”_

It was clear that Haechan was now crying, judging from how his voice became unsteady. Jeno immediately placed the glass on the table in front of him and stood up from the couch, making his way to the balcony.

“Shit shit, I think the blonde dude drowned.” Lucas exclaimed in a panic tone. From there, they could see Haechan swimming in an already deep part of the sea, diving again and again while calling Jaemin’s name when he submerged from the water.

_“Jaem please.”_

The last plead was all that takes Jeno to jump into the waters, swimming towards where the red hair male is floating.

“Lu-Lucas, help him,” Renjun managed to say even though his heart was beating so fast from panic. Lucas, upon hearing his boyfriend’s frightened voice, nodded his head before jumping into the water, joining Jeno into the search. Chenle who was just beside the shorter, remained frozen in his spot, unable to swallow the misfortune that’s happening just a few meters away from him.

“Jaem!” Haechan cried once again. His throat began hurting from yelling his friend’s name, also due to the fact of the amount of salt water he had been swallowing. He could feel his legs and arms hurting, exhausted from flapping them against the water to maintain his float. However, he couldn’t stop now. No matter how tired he is, he still needs to find his only friend.

They were just playing hide and seek, planning that the loser will be the one to cook dinner for tonight. It was Jaemin’s turn to seek and it was also the blonde’s decision to play on the deep part of the water, claiming that the area will contribute more fun to the game so he agreed. He can’t clearly recall what happened since everything for him happened so fast. He was just hiding himself underneath the water, waiting for his breath to finally give up before going back up but when he submerged from the water, Jaemin is nowhere to be seen and it’s impossible if the blonde just left him since they were a little far from the shore and it will take minutes for Jaemin to get there.

So now, here he was, torn between whether going back to the land to ask for help or to keep on looking. He know he’s running out of time and if he can’t find Jaemin soon, he’ll go crazy.

He was about to dive once again when a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder. He was about to give the person an embrace of bliss, assuming that it was Jaemin, but halted when he was met with a different person.

“You need to go back to the shore,” Mark said, forcefully grabbing Haechan’s arm as he swims towards the land.

Panic was evident in the red hair male and his eyes were red. Mark could make out the tears coming out form the younger’s eyes, mixed with the sea water. “No no, Mark-Mark, I need to- to look for him! Jaemin-“ Haechan couldn’t stop crying. His heart is beating wildly into his rib cage that he could almost feel it in his skin.

“Leave that to me, Jeno and Lucas, you’re exhausted,” Mark tried his best to remain calm. Deep inside him he’s also nervous but showing it would only worsen the situation.

Haechan was about to retort but Lucas’ booming voice echoed into his ear and the words that came out form the giant’s mouth washed a great relief on his entire soul.

“Jeno found him!”

With the help of Lucas, Jeno quickly dragged Jamein’s unconscious body out from the water, with Mark and Haechan following behind them. Once they reached the land, Jeno instantly dropped the blonde into the sand with him kneeling behind.

“How many minutes did he drown?” Jeno asked as he performed a first aid treatment meant for accidents in front of him.

“Less than five minutes after you saw him,” Haechan answered who knelt on the other side, biting his limps to prevent himself from crying. He held into the blonde’s wrist, trying to look for his pulse. When he felt it beating, another wave of relief washed over him.

Jeno placed both of his palm on Jaemin’s chest, compressing it strictly along the straight line which connects to the spine. After a few more push, Jaemin finally coughed in response, releasing the few amounts of water that entered his lungs. His body was beyond pale and his lips were almost as white as snow.

“Na, can you hear me?” Jeno asked, his voice louder than usual as slapped his palm into Jaemin’s cheeks slowly.

Finally, the blonde opened his eyes slowly, still emitting small coughs from his throat. However, he could feel his vision spinning around and his chest was tightening, preventing him to breathe in a normal pace.

‘It hurts,’ he wants to voice out but he can’t. The pain is not allowing him to speak. Jeno brought his hand to Jaemin’s back and pulled the blonde in a sitting position however, he could feel the blonde’s weight shifting into his arms and Jaemin’s head thrown into the back, his eyes closing one again.

“Shit he collapsed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jaemin's past is coming~~ well not entirely haha.


End file.
